Come Back To Me
by SultryV
Summary: Begins a month after the events of 5x22. Damon and Bonnie now reside in the harrowing Dark Dimension. As Elena struggles to deal with the loss of her true love and her best friend, Damon and Bonnie may have found a way to return to her. But will they ever be the same after experiencing the traumatic events of the Dark Dimension? Delena romance, Bamon friendship.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first attempt at fanfiction, so I apologise if it's mediocre. I will try my utmost to update as often as possible. Oddly enough, I decided to start writing this story a day before my university exams begin, so I will be rather inconsistent in my updates. I did not mind the season 5 finale so much. Besides the fact that it broke me into a million pieces, I thought it was rather good. So this story is not an AU or an attempt to "right the wrongs". Rather, it's simply my way of dealing with the 5 month wait til season 6, and I'm sharing it in the hope that it provides you with at least some comfort in the long wait ahead. I don't doubt Delena's endgame, but I wonder how long the writers intend to prolong their inevitable permanent reunion. I think that after death, Damon and Elena have had enough obstacles thrown at them. I intend to write a narrative covering the Dark Dimension for a while, as well as Mystic Falls and the MF gang's attempts to bring Damon and Bonnie back from wherever they believe them to be. The main focus will be Damon, Bonnie and Elena, but others will be included in the story. The romantic pairings are Damon/Elena, Stefan/Caroline, Bonnie/Jeremy. Bamon will occur to the extent of a very strong friendship, but I do not plan to develop them romantically as I truly believe that Damon will only ever love Elena and it would be utterly cruel to break Delena apart after everything they have been through. Damon and Bonnie's friendship will develop significantly due to their experience, which could cause problems but it will ultimately not be a romantic relationship. Delena belong together and I will not tarnish their love in any way. I plan to only write in the PoV of Elena and Damon, but I might also write in Bonnie's PoV depending on how my story develops...So, please review and let me know what you think! I might just be motivated enough to continue writing this book and eventually finish it! Peace out.

**CHAPTER ONE**

**Elena**

If this was what life without him felt like, she didn't want to live anymore. She thought by now that she'd feel better, that somehow she'd find it within herself to continue living, to gradually stop seeing him in dreams, in the mirror, everywhere. She thought she'd be moving on by now, but she wasn't. She was still stuck in that dark, despairing state she had been in when she lost him. She'd felt as if her world had ended that day, and she'd wondered how she'd ever continue to live without him. She still wondered.

Damon had been her love, her life, her everything. And only in the moment of his death did she realise how deeply she needed him. She'd underestimated her dependency on him. She knew she was dependent on him for many things, but she'd never realised that that included her will to live. If he was alive, she wanted to live. If he wasn't alive, she didn't want to be. It was as simple as that. Elena had never been this dependent on someone before, and now she had lost the only person she had ever been intricately dependent on.

It had been a month since that day, but nothing had changed. Elena still felt as broken as the moment she realised Damon was stuck on the Other Side. She still felt hollow. She still felt dead. She still cried. She wondered if she'd ever stop crying. Damon was the love of her life, and she had lost him just when they had finally been ready to just be together and focus on their future. But it had all been too good to be true. After everything she had endured and lost, why could she have been foolish enough to believe that she'd be able to be happy and build a future with the man that she loved more than anything? How could she have accepted that she got everything she wanted, and it wouldn't be taken away? She'd been a fool to think she could be so happy and life would not snatch her bliss away from her. And because of her naivety, she was not prepared for Damon being taken away from her. At times, she wished she could forget that day, that she could forget Damon. It would be easier that way, to forget the man who had once made her the happiest she'd ever been, but who now only caused her unbearable pain. She wondered how she could still feel anything. Had Damon not taken her heart with him when he died? How could she still feel this pain if she didn't even have her heart anymore? Had she not suffered enough with his death? Why did she constantly need to have her emotions remind her of him? Elena wished that she'd never loved Damon, because then living would be easier. It would be bearable. But now all she was doing was existing, for living was pointless if Damon was not with her, alive and loving her. She never thought the day would come when she would have to live without him, and now that it had, she didn't know what to do but hope that, somehow, he would return to her. He promised her. He promised her that he'd come back to her. Damon never broke his promises. Why would he now? She knew her hope was futile, but still a part of her had faith that Damon would come back to her, hold her in his arms, and tell her that he loved her. She wished for that moment more than she could count, and every time, it left her feeling shattered.

And if life had not battered her enough with Damon's death, it made sure to inflict its final blow with Bonnie's death. She had lost her true love and her best friend at the same time, and often she wondered how she managed to wake up every day and not finally end her pain by switching off her emotions. She'd been so tempted to turn off her emotions, to end all her suffering by the simple flick of a switch, but she couldn't do that to Jeremy. He was all she felt she had left, and turning off her emotions would surely result in the loss of him in some way or another. So she chose to torture herself instead by not switching off her humanity, accepting to endure the pain of the loss of the man that she loved and her best friend.

Deep down, a part of Elena was angry with both Damon and Bonnie. Damon had promised Elena that he would return to her, but he lied to her and died instead. And now she was left here, without him, her hopes and dreams shattered and her heart destroyed. Bonnie did not even tell her that she would ultimately die once the Other Side vanished – she'd kept Elena in the dark, and left Elena unprepared for her death, and the grief that accompanied it. Not even Jeremy knew of Bonnie's fate, and he was left in the same destitute state as Elena at the loss of his beloved. It seemed to Elena that the Gilberts were simply not meant to be happy, that they were supposed to live a life of anguish and loss forever, because that was all they ever kept experiencing. They'd lost their parents, Jenna, even John, and now they'd both lost the loves of their lives. Life would simply not get better; it would become bearable, perhaps, but not better. Damon had given her unimaginable happiness, and when he died, he took that happiness with him. She would have to live her life without her love and without her best friend. Was living even possible without them?

Caroline insisted that they all hold a funeral for Damon and Bonnie, but Elena refused, and so did Stefan. How could they have a funeral? Surely that would mean that Damon and Bonnie were gone to them forever, and they'd never see them again? Stefan had been adamant that it would be a sign that they'd given up hope on ever getting them back, and he wasn't ready to accept that. Damon's death had broken him, but Elena had been too caught up in her own pain to even consider his. She still was. Thankfully, Caroline had provided Stefan with the comfort Elena perhaps should have given him because of her and Stefan's bond to Damon, but being near Stefan simply reminded Elena of what she had lost; her future and the love of her life. Being near Caroline reminded her of Bonnie's death, and so Elena opted to distance herself from both Stefan and Caroline in an attempt to move on from the tragedy that continued to haunt her daily. But even being away from them didn't diminish her pain, for Damon would always find his way into her thoughts and almost everything reminded her of him. Bonnie had been her best friend since childhood, so how could she see or do something that wouldn't inadvertently conjure up an old memory of her best friend? Elena had lost count on the number of times she'd wished she could simply forget them both, because forgetting them would surely take her agony away and eradicate the emptiness she felt inside. But then again, when did she ever get what she wanted? The only thing she had truly wanted was Damon, and she'd lost him forever. Elena felt that she had to accept the fact that she was not meant to be happy. If she was, she would not have lost Damon and Bonnie. They would both be here, and she and Jeremy would both have the people that they loved. But they were not here, and she had to accept that. But how? Elena feared that accepting that reality would ensure that Damon and Bonnie never return, and then she would truly lose them forever. Her hope was little, but Elena loved both of them too much to accept their deaths. They'd all been through and conquered everything together, so why did this time have to be different? Why did they have to fail this time? Surely there was some way to bring them back? Elena hoped every day that Stefan would find a way to rescue Bonnie and Damon, and she knew that he wouldn't stop searching for a way until he found one. But how long would that be? And did such a way even exist? Elena hoped there was a way, for she desired nothing more than to hold the love of her life in her arms, and see her best friend again. It was a dream that constantly haunted her, but it was one she refused to give up. Giving up hope would mean giving up on them, and she knew that neither Damon nor Bonnie would ever give up hope on finding her or the others if they were in their position. So she would not give up hope, for their sakes and for hers.

Elena hoped that wherever Damon and Bonnie were, that they were at least together, so that they did not have to face their fates alone. If Bonnie and Damon were together, it meant not all hope was lost. If they were together, it meant there was a way to bring them back. It was a thought that brought her slight comfort – she only hoped that it was true.


	2. Chapter 2

So, this story is developing differently to what I initially intended in terms of some plot points and details, but otherwise, it's on its original path. I ended up including Bonnie's PoV in the story, for I feel that her narration is necessary to the development of this story, especially in its initial stages. I plan on including an important and pivotal event in chapter 3 or 4, an event which could perhaps anger some readers, but it is important for my story and especially for specific characters, as it will affect them significantly throughout the story. So, when the time arises, I implore you to please bear with me ;)...Here is my second chapter, I do hope it's satisfactory. Like I've mentioned previously, I will try my utmost to update as soon as possible. The more intense my exams get, the more difficult it will be to write, but I will not forget to do so!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. And thanks to those of you who have already reviewed - your input is very much appreciated!

Peace out.

**CHAPTER TWO**

**Damon**

When Damon accepted that he was going to die, he didn't think it would be like this. He had been ready to die. He and Bonnie had held hands, and faced their deaths together and he thought that would be it – that's how it would end, and all consciousness from them both would fade. But it didn't. Instead, they were sucked into a white vortex and landed here, another realm, apparently, a dark and unpleasant realm that he desperately desired to escape. When they first arrived here, Bonnie had been as confused as him at their new fate, for she too thought that after the destruction of the Other Side they'd both simply just die, not end up in another damn reality. How many realities could there bloody well be? Earth existed for the living, while the Other Side had existed for the dead, so why did this realm exist at all? Was it some form of Hell? Damon would be inclined to think it was if he had ended up here alone, without Bonnie. He wasn't foolish enough to think that his conduct as a vampire would simply be forgotten and he would experience a "good" afterlife. He had done many bad things that doomed him to a hell, but the witch certainly had not. Once again, she had sacrificed herself for her loved ones, so why would she end up here when her conduct on earth had only ever been good?

"It's pointless, you know."

Damon turned around to see Rose staring at him, a sympathetic smile on her face. He and Bonnie had encountered her a week after they had arrived in the Dark Dimension, and Damon honestly felt relieved that he didn't have to spend an eternity here with only the witch for companionship. Rose was his friend, and he could do with one in a place as austere as this one.

"What's pointless?" He asked, rather confused as to what Rose had thought he had been doing.

"Wishing to return. We've all tried it, attempting to find some way out of this ghastly place. But it's wishful thinking. I suppose beings as dark and unnatural as us are meant to spend an eternity in this horrid oblivion."

"I'd agree with you, except Bonnie is not one of us. If this is where we belong, she should not be here. We may be a cursed and unnatural species, but Bonnie is a witch. She is nothing like us. She should not be here if this hell-hole is our punishment. In any case, I wasn't wondering about returning. We've been here for three months, and discovered no way out. At this point I'd be an idiot to assume there is a way back."

Rose frowned. "It's not in your nature to give up, Damon Salvatore. I know I have but that's because I have nothing or no one to get back to. You do."

Damon did not like the direction this conversation was taking. He did not want to think of those he had left behind when he had died. He'd accepted his fate, and let go of his life on Earth; he did not want to start questioning everything now. "Please don't go there, Rose. I can't even begin to describe the grating headache that arises every time we have this discussion. What's done is done, there's no use concentrating on what I have lost or who I have waiting for me to return. Because the truth is, no one is waiting. Everyone over there thinks Bonnie and I are dead, and with good reason, seeing as the Other Side has been destroyed. So they're not waiting, because there is nothing to wait for. They've chosen to move on with their lives, and I have done the same, in whatever messed-up version of a life I will have here."

"Surely you don't think Stefan and Elena will ever give up trying to find a way to get you back?" Rose asked sceptically. "They love you. I don't think anything can stop them from giving up hope."

Damon rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter. Hope is not enough to save us. We're not on the Other Side anymore, we cannot return. So no matter how much hope they have, or how long Stefan decides to wear his hero hair, we cannot be saved from this. This is where we reside now; I'm not going to start believing that that can change."

Rose stared at him pensively for an unusually long time, but Damon chose not to meet her gaze. He meant what he said. He'd accepted the fact that the Dark Dimension was his home now – although Damon hardly deemed it a home for anyone – and that Mystic Falls was a place he would never see again, including the people who lived in it. It was a reality he had to accept, for what other choice did he really have?

Rose continued to stare at him, and Damon could not tolerate it any longer. He sighed. "Could we please change the subject? I'm not one for the silence. This place is depressing enough."

Rose slowly shook her head. "It's not like you to be a quitter, Damon. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you don't want to believe there's a way out of all this. Because you're too scared to have hope, hope that you can see them again."

"Obviously I don't want to have hope!" Damon shouted. "Because, in the end, I will just be disappointed. Having hope in a place as dark and depressing as this one, is pointless. How the hell are we supposed to get out of THIS, Rose? Even you have given up because you know just as well as me that believing there is a way back is futile! There is no way back. We are not on the Other Side. We are in another damn realm– in the Dark Dimension – a place that no one has ever escaped before! So no, I do not want to have hope, because it will only lead to failure. Now stop pestering me. I'm sick of this topic."

Rose laughed. "Oh please, your irritation is not going to dissuade me from speaking to you, especially about this. I understand that our situation and the circumstances of it are rather morose, but – correct me if I'm wrong – you want to see Elena again, don't you? Wasn't she once your reason for living?"

Of course she was going to bring up Elena. Rose never could resist bringing up the topic Damon resented discussing the most. "Rose, I'm only going to tell you this once. Elena was my reason for living, when I was _alive_. But I no longer am alive, I am _dead_, so holding onto her or any hope of ever seeing her again is pointless."

"But-" Rose began.

"No, Rose." Damon interrupted sternly. "I have let Elena go. I had to, in order to stay sane in this place. Just hoping for one moment that I can see her again will drive me crazy. I don't think I'd be able to handle it. I know I won't. So please, don't mention her again. Please."

And with that, Rose chose not to continue the conversation. She merely sighed and nodded and remained silent. After a short while, she rested her head against the wall she was sitting against in an attempt to sleep. Damon secretly wished she'd succeed in her attempt, because although he detested the silence this place seemed to be inundated with, he did not wish to speak any further about anything related to his former life. And even though he knew that Rose would eventually revisit this conversation, he would cherish the moments she didn't.

Damon wanted nothing more than to see Elena again. Leaving her had almost killed him, but he had accepted that he was going to die, and simply treasured the fact that she'd get to live. He wanted her to be happy, even though he now knew it wouldn't be with him. He'd told Rose that he'd let Elena go, and it was true. He had let her go. Elena had been his light and life when he'd been alive, but now he was dead, and even a mere memory of her did not belong in the Dark Dimension, the place was too dark for someone as beautiful and as pure as her. He'd gotten to spend the last few years of his life with her. He'd gotten to be loved by her. What more could he ever ask for? He'd gotten everything he'd ever wanted, and the fact that he had gotten it had been enough, even if he was now here, without her. There were moments when he'd find himself reliving memories of her, seeing her face and her smile and hearing her voice in them, but then he'd catch himself before he fell in too deep, stopping himself from having hope that he could ever see her again. And now that he was in this cell, this gloomy dungeon cell that was more depressing than anything he had already seen in the Dark Dimension, the temptation to relive moments shared with Elena was stronger than ever. But he refused to give in to the temptation, because that would undoubtedly lead to hope, which would lead to disappointment. He'd already suffered a lot in this miserable place, and endured it all, but he didn't think he'd be able to endure the destructive disappointment that would result from the hope of seeing Elena again. So he had chosen to let her go, had chosen not to think of her again.

But no matter how much he tried, Elena would always find her way into his thoughts. He only hoped that, in time, she'd gradually begin to fade from his memory, and then the pain inside him would fade along with her.

**Bonnie**

Three months. Three months and nothing. Until now. Bonnie hoped that after three months of fruitless exploration, she'd finally obtain the answers she was seeking. Lutiyah was her last hope. Through extensive investigation, she'd finally learned that Lutiyah had formed a secret pact with Grams before Grams had died. Bonnie needed to know exactly what that pact entailed. It wasn't much – for all she knew it could be utterly irrelevant – but it was her lost shot, and she refused to give up hope just yet. She refused to be like Damon. Of course she couldn't blame Damon for not having any more hope – he had been more determined than she had been to find a way to escape this morbid place. But after two and a half months had elapsed, he simply couldn't do it anymore. He let go of hope, and became resigned to his fate. Bonnie had been tempted to do the same, and almost followed suit, but it was the memory of her final meeting with Grams that motivated her to continue searching, to not give up hope, to continue fighting for a way back. Bonnie truly believed that Grams had sacrificed herself to ensure Bonnie could return to the living, and she swore to herself that she'd not let Grams' sacrifice be in vain. So she hoped against all hope that Lutiyah would confirm her beliefs, and provide her with the information she needed in order to return home.

"Bonnie Bennet. I've been expecting you."

Bonnie looked up to see a woman with dreads and a dark complexion smiling at her. "I'm Lutiyah. Please, come up."

Bonnie smiled and climbed the stairs of the dingy hotel, and followed Lutiyah as she led the way to her intended destination. The hotel was dilapidated and depressing, and reminiscent of the Dark Dimension. Everything in the Dark Dimension was depressing – buildings were decrepit and squalid, even the objects and possessions, where on earth would symbolise a home or place of occupancy, only here seemed to represent death – they seemed to be the inanimate versions of everyone who resided in the Dark Dimension; dead and broken in some way. 'Outside' was sunless, the only natural light provided was by the moon that never vanished, and everything else was lit by candles or other instruments that only exhibited poor lighting. In this dimension that lived up to its name in so many ways, Bonnie never craved Mystic Falls or the sun more. She wished more than anything to return to Mystic Falls and everyone who lived there. Hopefully today would be the day she'd finally learn how to do so.

Lutiyah closed the door behind her when they entered Room 304, and gestured for Bonnie to sit in an old sofa located in the corner of the room. Lutiyah subsequently occupied the sofa situated across from Bonnie, and smiled at her before she began to speak.

"You have, no doubt, come here in the hope of obtaining valuable information? Information that could lead to the procurement of your freedom from this macabre realm?"

Bonnie's heart began to race. She'd come to the right place. All those months of unrewarding investigation would finally come to an end. With much hope in her voice, she responded. "Yes, that's exactly why I'm here, actually. I have come to believe that my Grams, uhm, that is, Sheila Bennet, contacted you in the hope that you woukd somehow assist her in granting me escape back to the land of the living. Is that the case?" Bonnie desperately wished for an affirmative answer.

Lutiyah rested her elbows on the arm rests of the sofa, placing the tips of her fingers together in front of her. "That is correct. Your grandmother loved you very much, Bonnie. She sacrificed a great deal to save you from your fate, to offer you your freedom and safe return back to the living realm. She negotiated your escape with me, and bought your freedom."

Bonnie silently wondered how she'd ever be able to repay Grams for everything she'd ever done for her, and realised that the only way to do so would be to ensure that her final sacrifice had not been in vain. "What was the price of my freedom?" Bonnie asked, though she found that she already knew the answer.

"Her life, and all the magic it possessed." Bonnie felt tears form in her eyes. Lutiyah continued, "No one has ever escaped the Dark Dimension before; you will certainly be the first. But it is only possible because I am able to harness enough power to penetrate the confinements of the realm, and because you were the anchor to the land of the living and the Other Side, the gateway is only made manifest through you. You are the key to your return. Without you, it is impossible."

This was more than she could ever have hoped for. She could finally return to Mystic Falls, not as a ghost or as a half-living being, but fully alive, without any ties to any realm but the living one. Even with this in mind, she couldn't help asking, "Why were you willing to help her though? Forgive me, but, people don't just randomly help others who are in need, and especially not in this place. Not even witches."

Lutiyah smiled. "It's not like I got nothing out of the deal. I got all her power, which believe me, there was an abundance of, considering she was a Bennet witch, and one of the best too. But let's just say that I owed her one. She saved my life once. The least I could do was sacrifice my own to save her granddaughter's. And there are some witches who do still value the bond of the Sisterhood." She gestured around the room. "Even here, in the Dark Dimension."

"So, if the gateway is now possible because of me, does that mean anybody can leave now? It's open to anyone?" Bonnie asked.

"The sacrifice was made for you, Bonnie." Lutiyah responded firmly. "Therefore, I will only open it for you. When you leave, opening it again would be impossible, for you will be gone, and so also the possibility of escape."

"And you're not at all tempted to escape as well?" Bonnie asked curiously. "To leave this place behind?"

Lutiyah was silent for a moment. She then stood up and walked to the window, peering out at the sullen view the hotel offered. "The thought of leaving was tempting." She said, as she kept her gaze to the outside. "But I have been dead for too long. I died with nothing. And I have nothing left to go back to. That reality is harder to accept than this one." She gazed out for a little while longer, then returned to sit opposite Bonnie. "So, to answer your question – no, I am not tempted to return. You, and you alone, will leave. That is the only time anyone will ever leave this place."

Bonnie suddenly remembered Damon. "But, it's not only I who needs to escape. Someone else as well, my uhm, friend, he must accompany me back. I cannot go without him."

"That was not the agreement I made with your grandmother. We negotiated that you would be given passage back, not anyone else. Only you."

"But that was before Grams knew Damon died." Bonnie protested. "She didn't know he would be with me."

Lutiyah shook her head. "It matters not. You are what we agreed on. I cannot accommodate for what Sheila did not know. When I open the portal, only you will be allowed to go through, not your friend."

Bonnie couldn't accept that. She knew that if she returned without Damon, Elena would never forgive her. Damon's death had destroyed her best friend, and if Bonnie was revived but not Damon, it would be as if Elena lost him all over again. Even worse, it would make Elena desperate to enter the Dark Dimension to find him, and Bonnie didn't want Elena anywhere near this horrible place. And Bonnie herself felt that she could not leave Damon behind. They'd been in this together since their deaths, and even though he had given up hope, he had still been her source of comfort. He had begun to grow on her over the course of these three months. Of course, she'd never tell him that. He'd probably disregard it with some snarky comment anyway. So she knew that she could not leave this place without Damon. She had to make Lutiyah understand that.

"Please, Lutiyah. He needs to accompany me back. My grandmother sacrificed her life so that I could gain peace, but I will not if I leave without him. Please, it is only one other individual. You only need to include him in the spell, no one else. Please, do this for me. For Sheila." Bonnie knew that she was being rather manipulative by including her grandmother in her pleas, but she had to go all out if she wanted to succeed at obtaining Damon's freedom.

Lutiyah stared contemplatively at Bonnie for a long time, and just when Bonnie was about to believe that her pleas had been in vain, Lutiyah spoke. "You are taking a great risk by including your friend in this. You are the key and you are Sheila's granddaughter, and so being, I will permit him to escape along with you because it seems you will not leave if he doesn't as well. But only he will be included, I will make no other exceptions. There is no guarantee that the spell will work, and by including him, it lessens the odds of both of you escaping and surviving the journey back."

Bonnie was beyond relieved that the odds did not even bother her. "It's a risk I am willing to take."

Lutiyah slowly nodded. "Then so be it. I will conjure up the spell for both of you to return to the land of the living. Timing, however, is imperative. Naturally, I will harness the energy of the moon to assist me in the spell. Since the moon is permanently out in the Dark Dimension, it's not its presence we need to be concerned about."

"Then what's the problem?" asked Bonnie. After everything, what could go wrong?

"Your investigations have led rumours to be spread. Rumours that you know a way out of here. I don't need to inform you that there are countless individuals who wish to escape this place. Any opportunity they get to do so, they will grab it with everything they have got. You know how dark and dangerous this place is. People will resort to any means to get what they want. Considering that what you are planning to achieve is the most valuable and desired objective of anyone here, people would certainly kill to take your place, for they do not know that your survival is key to the portal, they only assume that you will open the portal and escape through it. So, we need to make sure that the time and location of your escape is privy only to you, me and your friend. No one else can know. If word gets out, your opportunity of escape will be lost forever. Trust me on that."

Bonnie nodded. She'd been so determined to find a way back, she'd sought help from many people and didn't care who knew about it. Now, in hindsight, that approach had not been the best idea. "I understand. No one will know but us two and Damon. So when can we do it?"

Lutiyah thought for a moment. "In four days' time, the annual Warrior Duel will occur. Everyone is expected to attend. While everyone's attention will be focused on the duel and the next unlucky soul to lose his life to a vicious opponent, we can vacate to a secret location and open up the portal, and you two can escape before anyone realises that we're gone. Afterwards, I will return to the duel, and act as if I never left. And you will be back in the living realm."

"Okay, I will make sure that Damon and I are there, and that we're ready. Thank you." Bonnie couldn't even begin to express her gratitude.

Lutiyah nodded. "Remember, Bonnie, it's in four days' time. Do not miss this opportunity. I do not know when we will get one like this again. It could be the next day, it could be the next year. So, make sure that you both are there. And that only you two know about it."

Bonnie nodded, and then stood up. "Thank you, Lutiyah. You have no idea how grateful I am for your help. I don't know how I could ever repay you."

Lutiyah stood up as well. "Your grandmother already has. And I'm simply following through with a promise. You just make sure you follow through with your side of the plan. That's how you can express your gratitude."

"I will, I promise. I will fulfil my side of the plan, nothing will go wrong." Bonnie promised herself that nothing would get in her way from escaping this hell, nothing.

Lutiyah nodded and led Bonnie to the door. "I trust you can find your way out? I need to begin crafting the spell, and the plan."

Bonnie nodded. "Thanks again, Lutiyah. I am truly grateful."

Lutiyah smiled and opened the door for Bonnie. Bonnie exited the room. She bid farewell to Lutiyah and turned to leave when Lutiyah said,

"Oh, and Bonnie?" Bonnie turned to face her. "Be careful, your love for that man will be your downfall."

It took Bonnie a while to register the meaning behind the warning. When she eventually understood, she replied with a smile. "It is not my love for him that stopped me from leaving without him. My love for my best friend did."

Lutiyah looked curiously at Bonnie, and then seemed to accept her response. "That may be, but take caution nonetheless. Don't underestimate the power of love, regardless of whom it may be for."

Bonnie didn't have time to decipher Lutiyah's enigmatic statement. She wanted to find Damon and inform him of everything. So she merely politely thanked Lutiyah and left.

As she exited the hotel and walked down the rundown alley, Bonnie struggled to supress her elation at finally discovering a way out of this horrific realm. Her hope had not been in vain. She'd be able to see Mystic Falls again, to see Jeremy, Elena, Caroline, everyone. She'd be free of the darkness and desolation of the Dark Dimension, and she'd be able to feel the sun on her body again. She promised herself that she'd never take the sun for granted ever again, or anything for that matter. Now she only needed to find Damon, which could be tricky. The last time she saw him was two days ago, when he and Rose had gone off to find some form of a bar. Typical Damon, to go drown his sorrows in alcohol. With a smile, she wondered if the bourbon he liked so much even existed here. But she highly doubted that he'd even care after he heard her news. He wanted to leave just as much as she wanted to, and now they'd finally be able to. She just needed to find him and Rose. Bonnie stopped dead in her tracks. Rose. She'd forgotten entirely about Rose. Rose would also want to escape this place, who wouldn't want to? And in her effort to include Damon in the escape plan, Bonnie had completely forgotten about Rose. Lutiyah had told Bonnie that she would make no more exceptions, so Bonnie knew that even attempting to persuade Lutiyah to incorporate Rose into the plan would be futile. Yet Bonnie highly doubted that Damon would leave without Rose. Knowing Damon, he'd force Rose into the plan, regardless of the risks involved. Well, first Bonnie needed to find Damon. The Rose issue was something she'd deal with later. But finding Damon would certainly be tricky. Where to start? She'd probably have to go from bar to bar in search of him, and she only had four days to do so. Bonnie knew that she needed to find Damon fast in order to inform him of the plan. The only thing that could go wrong now was that she didn't find him in time, and then they'd have to wait for who knows how long for the next opportunity.

So Bonnie began walking to the nearest bar, certain that as soon as she found Damon, everything would fall into place. She just needed to find him, and then they'd be on their way back. After everything they'd been through, nothing could possibly go wrong. Yet, Bonnie could not ignore the feeling deep in the pit of her stomach that seemed to shout the exact opposite.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

**Elena**

_As they pulled up into the driveway of the Salvatore Boarding house, Elena's patience was diminishing at a fast pace. As soon as the car stopped, she opened the door and leapt out, sauntering towards the front door. Damon took her hand as he reached her side, and she smiled inwardly at the warmth that instantaneously spread throughout her body. Damon always had this effect on her. There could never be a moment where she could not react to him, physically or mentally. It was like he was an on-going electric current that constantly flowed through her veins, affecting her senses, mind and body. _

_Finally, they reached the door and Elena felt as if time couldn't go any slower. Damon let go of her hand to search for the keys in his back pocket, and found them almost instantly. He placed the key in the door and unlocked it, and with that, Elena's patience was finished. As soon as Damon opened the door and swung it open, Elena grabbed his hand and pulled him inside, closing the door behind them. _

_He was momentarily stunned, but quickly recovered as a smirk gradually developed on his face. Elena had a feeling a part of him knew what was coming, but she didn't care. Her patience had run out, and along with it, her coyness._

_"__Look -" Damon began, but Elena didn't pay attention to what he was about to say. She charged towards him, gripped his face in her hands, and started kissing him. He easily responded, which was something Damon usually did whenever she was in the mood. There was hardly ever a time when he would deny her her desires. They continued kissing for several seconds until Damon stopped._

_"__Elena -" He began._

_"__Hush!" Elena interrupted, as she placed her finger over his lips. She had waited the entire day for this, and she had wanted to grab him for too long, that there was no way he was getting out of this now. _

_Damon smiled. "I'm not declining your…wish, believe me. But maybe we should wait until all is clear before we lose ourselves."_

_Elena smiled, as she began unbuttoning his shirt. "Jeremy isn't here. He told me this morning that he'd be staying at Matt tonight." _

_"__Well in that case." Damon said, and spun Elena around so he could subsequently push her into the wall of the living room._

_Elena smiled in satisfaction, and pulled Damon's face towards her to kiss him again. As his tongue began to trace every inch of her mouth, Elena's heightened desire began to increase rapidly. She started to kiss him deeper and deeper, tearing his shirt off him in the process._

_Damon's hand reached to her back as he quickly unzipped her dress, and in one swift motion pulled the dress entirely off her. His eyes burned with desire as he speedily traced every inch of her body with his eyes, before leaning passionately back in to kiss her. She groaned in satisfaction as he traced his tongue up her neck, her hands grasping his hair in unrestrained passion. God, she had waited for this. She had craved him all day as they explored Whitmore College with Caroline, felt his fingers interlaced with hers as they had held hands, her desire significantly ignited when he began tracing circles in her hand with his finger. She'd wanted to escape into a deserted classroom with him then and there to satisfy her burning desire, but Caroline had been adamant that Elena and Damon would not be intimate beyond handholding and occasional kissing. With Tyler away, Caroline certainly did not want to be a third wheel, and she made sure that Elena and Damon never ventured anywhere without her while visiting Whitmore College. Damon coined Caroline his personal grey cloud, and now as Elena felt his lips on hers, and his hands running up her body and moving towards the clasp of her bra, she completely agreed. She could have had this so much sooner, but she pushed any further thought of the day aside, intent on relishing this moment. _

_As Damon pulled Elena's bra off her, he lifted her up and she entwined her legs around his waist. Swiftly, Damon moved from the stairs to their bedroom and threw her onto the bed. His desire was now evident all over his face, and he grinned at her before she pulled him onto her, tired of waiting for even a moment. _

_"__I want you, and I want you now." She whispered breathlessly to him. She spun him around so that he was on his back, and promptly unbuckled his belt. They'd done this so often in the past few weeks she hardly needed to look at what she was doing as she began removing his pants. In one swift motion, Damon's pants were off and thrown onto the floor. _

_It was her turn to survey every aspect of his body, of his beautiful godly body. She traced her eyes down his body for a moment, before her desire overtook her and she dived into him to continue their ardent kissing. As her teeth bit his bottom lip, Damon groaned, and Elena smiled at the thought of how easily she could arouse him. _

_He pushed Elena down onto her back, and leaned over her, digging into her neck for the sweet spot she loved so much. Her hands clasped his hair as her eyes closed in satisfaction with every movement of his tongue and mouth, and as his teeth grazed her skin, Elena emitted a soft noise from her throat. _

_"__NOW, Damon." She uttered breathlessly. "I want you NOW." Her desire was overflowing now, and she doubted she could hold out any longer. _

_Damon moved his lips away from her neck and back to her lips, kissing her deeply as he cupped her face in his hands. He kissed her for a moment longer, and then gently thrust into her as he used his arms to steady himself above her. _

_Elena moaned loudly as she felt him inside her, pulling him closer against her, closing the distance between them. As his thrusting gradually increased, she felt herself ambling closer to her orgasm, and she began kissing him again as noises of desire and gratification emanated from both of them._

_His thrusting rapidly increased, predicting his imminent climax, and as his thrusts became more passionate and urgent, Elena knew her orgasm was mere moments away. She clawed into his back as her orgasm overcame her, moaning loudly in utter satisfaction at the indescribable pleasure she was experiencing. Damon never failed to satisfy her, and she doubted that he ever would. _

_Damon's climax followed soon after Elena's, and he groaned in fulfilment as he buried his face in her hair. They stayed in this position for a few moments, holding tightly onto each other, and purely savouring the experience they had just shared. _

_Damon subsequently placed a gentle kiss on Elena's neck, and fell on his back beside her, while she pulled the covers over them, and moved into him, resting her head on his chest. He pulled her closer into him, keeping his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. Elena smiled lovingly at his gentleness, and the safety she felt in lying in his arms. _

_Every time they made love, it was like a new experience to her, as if they were having sex for the first time. She couldn't explain it – she didn't think there were any words to do it justice – but there was something special about their sex, something exceptional, as if their souls were intricately combined every time Damon made love to her. As if they were one being and one soul. Besides the sexual gratification, it was something she loved, something she never wanted to do without. She belonged here, in Damon's arms, in his heart, in his life. Just like he belonged in hers. There was no world for her if he wasn't in it, and as she felt his heart beat against his chest – the heart that belonged to her – she knew with an indestructible certainty that he'd always be enough for her. _

_"__I love you, Damon." Elena whispered to him._

_"__I love you too, Elena." He softly replied as he gently stroked her hair. She closed her eyes to the sensation, feeling that if she had to die now at this very moment, she'd die the happiest girl in the world._

"Elena."

Elena shook awake at the sound of a familiar voice.

"Elena." Said the voice again. Elena turned to her left to see Caroline looking at her.

"Class is over." Said Caroline softly. "We need to leave now."

Elena looked around to absorb her surroundings. She realised she was sitting on a chair in her Biology lecture hall at Whitmore, clearly having slept through yet another lecture. Yet, she did not regret it. What she did regret was being woken up from her dream, and forced to escape a memory of her and Damon…of their summer together, when they were blissful, simply relishing in their love and passion for each other…the time when there were no doppelganger threats, no Silas, Qetsiyah, Katherine or Travellers…the time when there was Damon, alive.

The hall was almost empty as most of the students had already left, and Elena could feel Caroline looking at her expectantly. She sighed, packed her books in her bag and stood up.

Caroline walked beside her as she walked out the hall and down the corridor. Elena wanted to get out onto the grounds. She needed fresh air, especially after having to relive a memory of him, a memory that turned into a nightmare every time she woke up from it.

Caroline remained silent as they walked together. She'd become accustomed to Elena's silence. For months now, Elena rarely spoke and Caroline was simply too relieved that Elena finally returned to college to push her for anything else.

When they finally reached the outside grounds of the campus, Elena breathed in the fresh air she so desperately craved. Every day was a struggle for her, a struggle to get up, to look presentable, to eat, to breathe. A struggle not to think of him – the most difficult struggle of all. The fact that she kept on dreaming about him didn't help matters either. It was like her mind didn't want her to recover, and although she knew her heart never would, she thought her mind would at least give it a try, but it seemed to her that she'd been mistaken. She hardly remembered a day when she did not dream of him, either during the day or during the night. Her reality seemed to consist more of dreams than of real life, but it was a reality she preferred, for she hated the actual reality she was stuck with. Her life had become a disheartening nightmare, and she wondered how she even had the strength to face it.

She continued walking, believing that by just walking and walking she'd be able to walk off the emotional aftermath bound to arise from her most recent dream.

And then she saw him.

She stopped dead in her tracks, staring at a face she thought she'd never see again. Caroline almost stumbled due to Elena's immediate halt in pace.

"What is it?" she asked worriedly, looking around for the source of Elena's abrupt conduct.

But Elena was only focused on the face leaning against the tree mere feet away from her, smiling at her with that familiar, adorable, smirk. She blinked her eyes several times, certain that that face was merely a figment of her imagination, for it was impossible for Damon to be here, at Whitmore, _alive_. Yet, she could not stop herself from moving towards him, slowly, keeping her eyes constantly on him out of fear that he'd disappear the moment she looked away.

She could vaguely hear Caroline's voice, but she didn't care. Damon was here in front of her, and he was all that she wanted to see. He did not move, but continued to smirk at her as she sauntered closer.

When she reached him, she continued to stare in disbelief, astonished that the man she had craved to see for six months was finally standing in front of her, looking at her as if he had never left. Although Elena desperately desired to touch him, she didn't, afraid that if she laid the slightest touch on him, he'd pop like a bubble and vanish, leaving her alone once again.

"How are you here?" she asked him, eventually finding her voice. "Are you real?"

He smiled, and leaned away from the tree, recovering his balance as he looked at their surroundings.

"I suppose it's all a matter of perspective." He responded, resting his eyes on her again. Elena felt herself go warm at the sound of his voice. "I am real because you can see me."

Elena frowned. "So I'm the only one who can see you? You're in my head then?" Elena felt disappointment beginning to grow inside her.

Damon looked at her piercingly. "It doesn't mean I'm not real, Elena. I exist in your heart and your memory."

Elena shook her head. "That's not enough. I can't only have you in my dreams, Damon. I won't survive. I need you with me."

Damon smiled sympathetically. "But I'm always with you."

"Not in the way I want you to be. Not in the way you're supposed to be." She stated firmly. She stared at him for a moment, analysing every feature of his perfect face.

"You promised that you'd never leave me." She said to him, feeling the lump in her throat growing extensively. "You promised that you'd come back to me."

She felt the tears form in her eyes, but she refused to wipe them away, because she didn't want to lose sight of Damon for one second.

He looked at her heavily, trying to form a response. God, she missed him. Seeing him now, she realised yet again just how intensely she did.

Damon walked towards Elena, and she held her breath, waiting to see if he'd touch her, and if she'd feel him again. When he stood directly in front of her, he looked at her with those piercing blue eyes, full of so much love that had only ever been reserved for her.

Slowly, he lifted his hands to her face, and cupped her face in his hands.

She closed her eyes at his touch, the touch she had longed for since his death. She never thought she'd feel his touch again, and she'd stay in this moment forever just to continuing feeling it. She felt him gently wipe the tears falling from her eyes away, and she opened her eyes to gaze into his.

He gazed intently at her, as if he was surveying the very depths of her shattered soul.

"I know I promised, baby." He whispered to her. "And I wish I could come back to you. More than anything." She felt his breath on her face. God, this was too good to be true.

"Then why don't you?" she pleaded. "Why haven't you found a way to come back to me?"

A pained expression formed on Damon's face.

"Because I can't." He responded, and sighed before speaking again, tentatively uttering his next words. "And you have to accept that."

Elena looked at Damon in disbelief, unwilling to comprehend the words she had just heard. She stepped back from him, her face leaving his hands in the process.

"Accept that?" she asked incredulously, anger beginning to develop inside her. "How do you expect me to accept that, Damon? How CAN you even expect me to accept that?" She'd begun shouting at him now, but she didn't care. There was no way in hell that she'd ever accept that Damon could not return to her, and the fact that he wanted her to infuriated her beyond belief.

He simply continued to stare at her with that pained expression, and that angered her even further.

"After EVERYTHING we have been through? After EVERYTHING we have overcome, you simply expect me to give up?!" She was breathing heavily, attempting to keep herself from completely breaking down.

Damon shook his head slowly, but didn't dare to move closer to her.

"Not to give up, Elena." He responded calmly. "To let go. You need to let go."

Elena shook her head furiously. "Never! I refuse to. This is not how our story ends, Damon." She began to cry, her body shaking in attempt to shake away her pain and tears. She couldn't believe that Damon – her love – was telling her to let him go. It was simply unimaginable.

He ventured again slowly towards her, and when he saw that she showed no indication to reject his attempts, he placed his hands on the side of her arms, and peered deeply into her eyes.

For many seconds she refused to look at him, but her anger quickly gave in to longing and she could no longer resist peering back into those blue orbs she loved so much.

"I know this is difficult for you." He began soothingly. "But it will get better. Your story is not over."

"I have no story if you're not in it." She responded hopelessly. "Don't you see, Damon? Without you, there isn't me." She could feel her despair resurfacing as she continued. "I'm a ghost. I walk around like an animate corpse, but I don't feel anything. The pain is unbearable. I can't deal with it, so I block it out, because it is the only way to wake up every morning and not want to stand in the sun without my daylight ring. I am so close to switching off my humanity because I don't want to hurt anymore. But I don't want to forget you. I don't want to stop loving you. I can't. So how can you expect me to let you go when my love for you is the only thing that is stopping me from flicking my switch?"

Didn't he understand? Her hope of seeing him again was what kept her going. Letting him go would result in her letting herself go. She needed him to understand that.

"You're a part of me." She uttered, sounding somewhat incoherent through her tears. "You're in me. I just can't let you go."

Damon's gaze saddened. He was speechless for a while, clearly figuring out the right words to say in response to Elena's confession.

"I will always be with you." He finally said, gently stroking her arms. "And I will always be a part of you. But that doesn't mean that you can't let me go and can't move on."

Elena began to shake her head in fierce disagreement, but Damon grabbed her face in his hands before she could utter a response.

"Elena." He began firmly. "I know this is something you don't want to hear. And I know you think that if you move on you will forget me, but I will always be in your heart. And as cheesy as that may sound, it is the truth. You've got to begin living your life. Not as a corpse or a ghost, but as the awesome vampire that you are. As the Elena Gilbert that I know and love. You've got to let me go, because it is the only chance you have for happiness. I love you, and I will always love you, but I need you to let me go. For your sake."

Elena heard these words, but she didn't understand them, for surely he did not think that she could be happy without him? There was no hope of happiness if there was no Damon Salvatore in her life. Why couldn't he simply understand that? She needed him to understand that.

But before she could begin to articulate these thoughts, Damon planted a passionate kiss on Elena's lips, and all else flew from her mind. She savoured the kiss. The taste of his lips. The touch of them against hers. The utter fulfilment she was feeling in this moment. She was willing to spend an eternity stuck in this moment, because she'd be with him, she'd feel him and taste him.

Just as Elena wanted to deepen the kiss, Damon broke apart from her.

A sombre smile spread across his lips as he brushed her cheek with his hand.

Why did he stop? She wanted him to continue, to kiss her forever and never remove his lips from hers.

"Goodbye, Elena. I love you." He whispered. And before Elena could object or tell him she loved him in return, Damon disappeared, and she felt his soothing touch on her cheek no more.

"Damon! Damon!" she shouted in despair, refusing to believe that he was really gone. She turned to look around, searching for his face across the campus grounds, but finding those blue eyes nowhere.

She began to sob heavily, thick tears pouring down her cheeks.

Vaguely, she felt Caroline's arms around her, saying something she could not quite comprehend, but she didn't care. She'd lost Damon again. Yet again, she had to endure the agony of losing the love of her life, but she didn't think that she could survive it this time. Her knees gave in, and she collapsed onto the ground, her resurfaced grief overwhelming her and causing her to weep profusely.

Elena could not comprehend anything around her. All she could feel was the burning pain in her chest that spread to her entire body as she became consumed by her anguish. Her emotions were killing her, her loss for Damon too great to understand or bear. She wanted to rip her heart out, to stop feeling this agonising pain, but then she'd rip Damon out along with it, and that she could not bear. So she continued to lie on the ground, and allow her grief to devour her, pulling her deeper and deeper into its darkness.

Elena had told Damon the truth when she'd told him that he was a part of her, because as she lay in the puddle of her own tears and misery, Elena felt a core part of her missing. The part that had made her whole just a few moments ago when Damon had been with her. The part that was exclusively Damon Salvatore. The part that she'd never get back.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the follows, favourites and reviews! I appreciate your input. I'm writing another exam soon, so my next update could take a while. I'll try my best to update as soon as I can. Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it!**

**CHAPTER FOUR**

**Damon**

_When Damon opened his eyes, it took him a few seconds to believe that the sight he was seeing was real and not some dream that would be snatched away from him any moment. _

_He stared in silent awe at the woman beside him. Her breathing was even, and her beautiful face indicated a peaceful slumber. _

_The longer he looked at her, the more he thought that it mustn't be real, that his mind was deceiving him into believing he had gotten everything he'd ever truly wanted, that he'd actually gotten her. Could he be a fool to believe that she loved him? That she actually loved him, genuinely, truly, unconditionally? That her motives were sincere and not twisted like Katherine's had been? Could he actually be dumb enough to think that Elena Gilbert wanted him the way he wanted her? Had he not learned his lesson with Katherine? _

_But, then again, Elena was nothing like Katherine. She'd never purposefully hurt him like that bitch did, and he highly doubted that she'd be lying here, beside him, if she hadn't meant what she'd said. Or if she at least didn't want him in some capacity. Elena was simply too pure and good to ever be as conniving and heartless as Katherine Pierce. _

_So as he stared at her, her arms resting comfortably under her cheek, he believed that this must be real, and that he had been lucky enough to witness this perfection every day for three weeks. He hoped he'd be able to for all eternity._

_As if she sensed his eyes on her, Elena slowly, serenely, opened her eyes and turned her head slightly upwards to look at him. When she saw him staring at her, she smiled contently, momentarily closing her eyes while doing so._

_"__What are you thinking?" she asked him softly, repositioning herself slightly so she could stretch to her satisfaction._

_"__Oh, you know…" Damon shrugged, a smirk forming on his face. "Simply entertaining naughty thoughts."_

_Elena laughed. "Something tells me that is actually not the case." She subsequently lifted herself up to be on his eye-level, resting her head on her hand. "What are you really thinking?"_

_She always had a way of seeing right through him. Obviously today was no different. _

_Damon lifted his hand to her cheek, and lightly brushed his finger down it. "Just thinking how I don't deserve this." He uttered evenly. "This life. Or you."_

_Elena momentarily frowned. "Don't __do that, Damon. Don't __undervalue yourself__.__" __She placed her right hand on his cheek. "__I'm here because I want to be. I love you." She looked at him, slightly puzzled, as if what she had just told him was the most obvious thing in the world. _

_Slowly, she moved in to kiss him, placing a soft kiss on his lips, and lingering there for a few moments. _

_Damon loved her lips. If it was only up to him, he'd kiss them all day. _

_Elena gently broke away from him, her hand still remaining on his cheek as she looked at him, her eyes pensive and sincere. "__You __HAVE __this, __Damon. Don't __question it__, t__here is no need to. I'm not going anywhere."_

_Damon smiled in response, relishing the feel of her touch on his skin. He never thought a simple touch could possess so much love, but Elena always had a way of defying anything he'd ever believed, even though she rarely intended to. _

_"__You're more than I could ever hope for, Elena." He said to her, peering deeply into her beautiful brown eyes. "I just choose never to forget how lucky I am to have you."_

_She smiled affectionately. "And you're more than I could ever need, Damon. So we're both lucky. You're not the only one who has reason to be grateful." He saw the warmth deepen in her eyes as she spoke, and he wondered how he could ever have deserved to be the recipient of such intense love. _

_"__Now kiss me." She said, her tone playful. "I've missed you too much to talk any longer."_

_Damon laughed. "You were only sleeping, Elena. I didn't go anywhere."_

_Elena considered his words for a second. "True, but still. Your lips are like a drug, and I need my fix. A peck is not enough." She stared at him as a grin widened on her face, her eyes provocative._

_Damon loved it when she was like this, not caring about anything but the moment. The thought never strayed far from his mind that Elena had been dealt a tough hand in life. She had suffered more despair than most people her age – or hell – even most people in life had, yet she still managed to somehow get up every day and live her life without remaining dejected about her past experiences. She was a true survivor, and as Damon looked at her, he realised that was one of her many traits that he loved and admired. _

_"__I'm waiting, Damon." She whispered, distracting him from his thoughts. "Impatiently." _

_Damon needed no further invitation. He moved his head towards hers, and pressed his lips fervently against hers. He heard Elena sigh in satisfaction, and felt her hands brush into his hair. He loved the sensation it created, and responded by deepening his kiss and pushing Elena down onto the pillow._

_They kissed passionately for several minutes, exploring every aspect of each other's mouths with their tongues, savouring the pleasure of the moment. _

_Eventually, and hesitantly, Damon pulled away from Elena, not wanting to get carried away any further than they already had been._

_Elena lifted her arms in protest. "What are you doing?" She asked him, a bemused expression on her face. _

_Damon smiled. "Not that I wouldn't mind spending the entire day in bed with you." He responded, running a hand down her arm. "But we have things to do today, Elena. You have a breakfast date with Caroline, remember?"_

_Elena rolled her eyes. "I haven't forgotten. But that's only in an hour. There's enough time. I get ready pretty fast."_

_Damon snorted. "Pretty fast for you, you mean. Long for anyone else."_

_"__Hey!" she objected, punching his arm in playful protest. "You have never complained before."_

_Damon laughed. "That's because I know better than to argue with you about it. And because it's never bothered me before. It still doesn't."_

_Elena lifted an eyebrow. "Yet you are practically chasing me out of your bed to get dressed and leave?"_

_"__Oh believe me, I'd never chase you out of my bed, Elena." For a brief moment, Damon absorbed the aspects of her body not concealed by the duvet. "Especially as you are now." Damn, this woman would be the death of him. "But Vampire Barbie would not be pleased with me if you ditch your plans with her. I'm bound to hear it out from her for at least four hours if you do."_

_Elena chuckled and shook her head. "Fine, I'll get up soon, and save you from that inconvenience. But do me one favour at least?"_

_"__Anything."_

_"__Cuddle with me for a few moments? If I can't have all of you now, then I'll at least make do with that." Elena looked at him pleadingly, but playfully. How could he resist that? And it's not like he even wanted to._

_"__Of course." He answered, pulling Elena into him as she smiled in response. He wrapped her in his arms and held her close against his chest. _

_He doubted that she knew it, but he cherished moments like these more than anything. For it was just him and Elena, holding each other, delighting in simply being together, finding peace with each other. Such moments with her brought serenity to his mind, made him feel safe and comfortable, and most of all, happy. He doubted a day would go by when he wouldn't wonder how he deserved her, or how she could even love him, but even so, he would embrace these moments because they were more than he could ever have hoped for or expected. He loved Elena more than life itself, and he'd do anything for her if she asked him. Not that she ever needed to._

_"__Damon?" Elena uttered softly, her head still resting on his chest._

_"__Yeah?" Damon replied._

_Elena shifted her head upwards, so she could look into his eyes. Her eyes were unusually emotive, no longer harbouring any hint of the playfulness it had previously conveyed. _

_Damon looked at her thoughtfully, curious about her sudden change in demeanour._

_"__Don't ever leave me." She whispered to him, sincerity underlying every word she spoke and complete vulnerability evident in her eyes. _

_Damon smiled tenderly, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "I will never leave you, Elena. I promise."_

_Elena smiled slowly, closing her eyes, and shifting her head downwards to rest properly on his chest again._

_He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her head. _

_He'd meant what he'd told Elena. He'd never leave her. There was no way in hell that he could. She was his life, and he'd die before he let anything happen to her. He loved her too much to leave her. Nothing would stop him from being with her. Nothing would keep him from her. Nothing would be that powerful._

_Not even death. _

A loud thud woke Damon from his slumber. He opened his eyes to see the dirty and dishevelled prison guard, Guntar, kick a plate filled with God only knew what towards him.

"Eat." Guntar grunted in his thick Russian accent as the plate reached Damon. "You're going to need the energy." He snickered at his statement, but offered no further explanation, and subsequently turned around and walked towards the stairs of the dungeon. Damon watched him ascend the stairs before turning to look at his food.

It was the most disgusting food Damon had ever seen – if one could actually call it food. And considering that he had lived for 173 years, he deemed it a great achievement that he could still be repulsed by anything, most of all food.

He lifted the plate to his nose to smell the grey sludge, but it smelled even worse than it looked, arousing a nauseating feeling inside of him. He was hungry, but he doubted anyone would be hungry enough to eat that. He'd rather eat the floor.

"Delicious, isn't it?" called Rose from the adjacent cell. "I'm just _dying_ for more."

"Ha-ha." Responded Damon, throwing the plate aside in disdain. "Nothing in this place is worth dying for. Not even the bourbon."

"Oh come now, Damon. The bourbon wasn't that bad."

"Are you kidding?" he asked incredulously, turning to face her. "It tasted like dishwater."

Rose laughed and slowly shook her head. "Well, if you did not have to see the negative in EVERYTHING, you might have enjoyed it a little more."

"I can't help it." He replied bitingly. "It's this place. It just brings out the worst in me. My only solace here could have been alcohol, but even that was horrible. Pathetic."

"Yes, well you didn't have to tell the barman that. Or the entire bar, actually."

"Well they needed to know the crap they were drinking or about to drink. I was committing a civil service."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Yes, a civil service landed us here." She responded sarcastically. "What a wonderful way for them to convey their appreciation."

"It's not my fault they decided to get violent." Damon scoffed. "But it's not like I was going to stand back and let them tear me to pieces either. Or you, for that matter."

Rose shook her head in disbelief. "Your mouth is the problem, Damon. If you had any semblance of control over it, we wouldn't be in this predicament."

Damon cackled. "As if we have any better place to be! Are you missing a dinner party right now, Rose? Or your favourite television show?"

"Don't start." She replied firmly. "You know what I mean. We have been here for four days, stuck in this hole. Anything in the Dark Dimension is better than this morose dungeon. You can't deny that."

Damon agreed with her. He hated this place more than anything. All it did was force him to think about things he did not want to think about, or relive memories he preferred to keep in the past.

"No, you're right." He said evenly. "I'm sorry. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be stuck here, nor have helped me kill them."

Rose's agitation evaporated, and she smiled instead. "They were going to kill both of us, Damon. Either we were going to die or they were. I just made sure it was them rather than us. And hey-" She lifted her hands up in mock celebration. "It was kind of exciting, wasn't it? I think I needed some excitement in this dreadful place."

Damon laughed. "Yeah, it kind of was. But still, in retrospect, I should have kept my thoughts to myself. I was just counting on that bourbon to offer me some sort of solace." He looked around at the dungeon. "I just never thought it would be this cell."

"Yes, well. We need to find a way to get out of it." Rose looked down at her plate of food that had identical contents to Damon's plate. "I need proper food." She said, lifting her nose in disgust at the sight of the sludge.

"We've tried." Damon replied weakly. "We haven't had blood for days. We're too weak to break through these bars. And that-" He pointed towards Rose's plate, "would kill us both rather than strengthen us. We need blood, but I don't see us getting it here."

Rose looked behind her to the stairs of the dungeon before turning back to Damon.

"We could try getting some from Guntar." She whispered.

"That's disgusting." Damon retorted. "His blood would make us both sick."

Rose rolled her eyes. "It's blood, Damon. And like you said, we need it if we want to get out of here as soon as possible. Compulsion doesn't work on him, but there are other ways of forcing him to give us his blood."

Damon pondered her words for a moment. "That is true. Well, we'd have to be fast. And hopefully strong enough to overpower him."

Rose smiled agreeably. "With the two of us, it's possible. We may be weak, but we're still vampires. We are naturally stronger."

"I hope you're right. I want nothing more than to get out of this hell-hole and try to find proper bourbon. And to see the Witch."

Damon had to admit – he missed Bonnie. She was the only thing linking him to Elena. And besides that, she had a way of lifting his spirits. But he'd been so angry that they hadn't discovered a way to escape the Dark Dimension that he just wanted to flee to some bar and drown his sorrows. He had needed time away from her, from her unrelenting determination to find a way back, from her hope that he feared would destroy her. Of course, he didn't plan on being stuck here for four days. He and Rose had planned to go for a drink, and return to Bonnie. They sure as hell didn't expect to be imprisoned in a filthy dungeon for hours on end.

Damon wondered if Bonnie was looking for them, or even cared where they were. He had been rather miserable to her lately, he wouldn't blame her if she relished his absence. But he still hoped that she was at least wondering where they were. And that she would maybe find them. It would give him hope that not all was lost here in the Dark Dimension. Because when Bonnie Bennet was around, something at least seemed to go right.

**Bonnie**

Trust Damon Salvatore to get himself locked up, Bonnie thought to herself. Sometimes, he could be such a fool. This was a complication that they did not need. Bonnie had found a way to leave this place, to return to the people that they loved, and Damon went and got himself imprisoned when _time was of the essence_? God, she'd slap him right now if she could.

"This way." Grumbled a dirty looking Russian, apparently one of the prison's guards. He led her down a long flight of stairs.

The prison was disgusting, slime covering the walls, rats running across the stone floors. She'd die of disgust if she had to reside here for longer than a day.

They continued down the stairs for about a minute until reaching the bottom, entering a dark, muddy dungeon encompassing many metal cells.

As she viewed the cells, she discovered all were empty except two. The closer she got to the cells, the clearer its inhabitants became, and it didn't take her long to realise the occupants of the cells were Damon and Rose. Obviously, Rose would be in here with Damon. What did Bonnie expect? Rose was like his sidekick here in the Dark Dimension.

"You have a visitor." Grunted the Russian to Damon, who was in a deep, quiet discussion with Rose.

Damon and Rose both turned to look in response to the Russian's statement, and when their eyes fell upon her, the relief was evident on their faces. They said nothing, however, only smiled. They looked up at the Russian expectantly, waiting for him to leave. He mumbled something in Russian that Bonnie did not understand, and turned to leave.

"You have ten minutes." He said to her, the smell of his breath almost toxic. He subsequently strode towards the stairs, and departed from the dungeon.

Bonnie waited till he was out of sight before turning back to look at Damon.

"What on earth were you thinking?" she asked, stopping herself from shouting. "How the hell did you get yourself into this mess?"

Damon shrugged. "It's a long story, one I'm sure you do not want to hear." He stood up and moved closer towards her, a smirk forming on his face. "The question is, can you get us out of it?"

"Well I don't know, Damon." Bonnie responded sternly. "It depends on what you did to get yourselves INTO it."

"Trust me, Bonnie. You don't want to know." Rose stated, moving closer. "It's Damon, after all."

Rose had a point. "I'll see what I can do." Bonnie replied. "But this is the Dark Dimension. Methods are different here."

She peered around the dungeon to make sure they were alone. She moved closer to Damon's cell, leaning against the bars to speak softly. "I found a way out."

Damon looked at her confused. "Out of where?"

"Out of here, out of the Dark Dimension." She whispered.

Damon and Rose looked at each other.

"That's impossible." Damon stated firmly. "We've looked for every possible way out of here, and found none."

"Well, I have found a way." Bonnie retorted.

"How?" asked Rose, curiosity all over her face.

"It doesn't matter right now." Bonnie answered bluntly. "What matters is that we have a limited time to leave, so you guys being stuck here kind of puts a damper on things."

She looked towards Damon, who seemed to be staring past her, countless thoughts evidently flooding his mind.

"Damon." She uttered in an attempt to bring him back to reality.

He moved his eyes back to her.

"We have two days left, that is all." He nodded, gesturing with his hand for her to continue. "It's going to occur during the Warrior's Duel. That will be our only chance, possibly ever."

Damon nodded again. "What do we need to do?" he asked, with a new sense of determination. Bonnie welcomed this new change. It meant he'd do whatever it took to escape this dungeon. It meant they'd get back to the living realm.

"First, we need to get you guys out of here." She scrutinised the lock of the cell, attempting to find a spot of weakness that could be used to break it open.

"I need blood." Damon stated. Bonnie looked up at him. He looked at Rose before looking back at her again. "We both do."

"I suppose you want me to give it to you?" she asked him. She wasn't stupid. She'd given him blood before while in the Dark Dimension, of course he'd request some again.

Damon looked slightly embarrassed. "It's up to you. But we're weak, and we haven't had blood in days. Human blood will rejuvenate us. Then we may be able to break free from these cells."

Bonnie didn't have the time to discuss the matter. She was certain their ten minutes were almost up, so she simply accepted his request. "I'll give you blood, both of you."

She turned her neck towards him, making sure it was positioned between the bars. "Just please, don't kill me. I'd hate to die before having the opportunity to leave this horrible place." She smiled politely as she said this, receiving kind smiles and nods in return.

It took them both less than two minutes to drink from her. She was grateful. She hated the feeling of having a vampire suck blood out of her, so she was pleased they had hurried the process.

She regained her balance after recovering from the brief dizziness caused by the feeding, leaning against the cell in support.

"So, do you think you guys can break through?" she asked Damon, hoping for an affirmative answer.

He placed his hands on the bars. "I guess we'll have to find out."

He began pulling the bars of the cell, but was interrupted by the approaching footsteps originating from the stairs. He immediately dropped his hands from the bars, anger evident on his face. Bonnie understood his anger. She felt it too. The footsteps were another obstacle, another hindrance stopping them from reaching their destination. She'd had enough of this place, and the footsteps only intensified this feeling.

Bonnie, Rose, and Damon all looked towards the stairs, interested to know who the footsteps belonged to. It did not take them long to find out. The Russian prison guard descended the stairs, accompanied by a man everyone in the Dark Dimension knew – Elias. To Bonnie, Elias was the personification of evil. He was the self-instated mayor of the dimension, who invoked whichever laws pleased him in the moment, and ordered the deaths of whoever scratched him the wrong way. His presence in the dungeon was definitely not a good sign.

As Bonnie looked at Rose and Damon, she knew they agreed, for apprehension was evident on their faces. Elias' presence was the last thing they needed right now.

"Ah the little murderers." Elias uttered with a smirk, opening his arms in a welcoming gesture towards Damon and Rose. "You two have been causing quite a bit of trouble." He looked at Bonnie. "And you clearly have not."

She remained silent, refusing to offer a response.

"It was one incident, Elias." Said Rose evenly. "I hardly think it's fair to deem us troublemakers."

Elias looked at her, his smirk widening further. "Perhaps, Rose. But it does not change the fact that you murdered fourteen individuals, all over a spat about whiskey. The loved ones of the deceased want justice."

Bonnie knew this had nothing to do with the loved ones. This was all about Elias and his addiction for sadism.

"They got justice." Damon spat. "We killed the bastards for trying to kill us. There's their justice."

Bonnie closed her eyes at Damon's impertinence. Sometimes he just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Elias glared at Damon, disdain all over his face. "You mistake me for someone who accepts such insolence, Damon Salvatore. I'd advise you to keep your temper in check."

Damon rolled his eyes, but chose not to respond, to which Bonnie was grateful. Damon couldn't afford to get into any more trouble.

"Haven't we been in here long enough?" asked Rose. "We've done our time, now let us go. This is the Dark Dimension, justice works differently here."

Elias looked at Rose, a sneer gradually forming on his face. "Right you are, Rose. Justice does work differently here. You have murdered fourteen individuals. For this, you shall be punished."

"And what is our punishment?" asked Damon sceptically. "Spending another four days in this toilet?"

Elias's eyes moved slowly from Rose to rest on Damon. "No, Salvatore." He replied ominously. "I'm afraid not. Your punishment is more…final." He grimaced, and then added, "Well, I suppose the finality depends on you, really."

"What the hell are you talking about?" demanded Damon. "Why don't you just skip the poor allusions and get to the bloody point?" Bonnie mentally begged Damon to control his temper. He definitely did not want to get on the wrong side of Elias. Damon was undoubtedly dangerous, but Elias was an individual nobody dared to challenge.

Elias did not react antagonistically to Damon's retort, but shrugged instead. "Certainly. I suppose it will suit everyone if I just say what I came here to say."

"Yes, I'd be so grateful." Damon uttered sarcastically.

A wide smirk emerged on Elias's face, clearly gleeful about whatever he was going to say. "Your punishment, then, is a duel. The Warrior Duel, to be exact."

Oh no, Bonnie thought. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. How were they supposed to escape when Damon and Rose were off fighting some opponent in the Warrior Duel at the exact time they had to escape? Things definitely could not get worse.

Damon and Rose looked at each other. Damon subsequently smirked. "So our punishment is to fight and kill whomever we face in the duel? That's fine. Bring it on."

Damon obviously thought nothing of the duel.

Elias's smirk widened. "Oh no, Damon Salvatore. Your punishment isn't fighting and killing some opponent in the duel. Your punishment is fighting each other, where one of you must die."

The smirk on Damon's face vanished in an instant. Rose looked frozen.

And Bonnie had thought things couldn't get any worse.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I decided to include Stefan's PoV in my story. Not much occurs in this chapter plot-wise, but I hope you like it nonetheless. A plot-heavy chapter will be Chapter 6.**

**CHAPTER FIVE**

**Elena**

There's only so much pain one can take. There's a limit your body and mind can absorb. Once that limit is exceeded, everything begins to collapse. Your world, your sanity, your life.

As Elena stared at the blankness of the wall of her room, she believed that this must be it, this must be the end. She gained a certain clarity in her world of disillusion and chaos, for she gained the knowledge of the finality of her state, in which she believed she'd no longer feel anything anymore; no more agonising pain, no more anguish, no more him.

Yet she felt hollow, and she felt weak. Nothing made sense to her anymore, and there was no light in her abundance of darkness. The light of her life was gone, and she had died along with him, even though she was here, merely existing, without him.

If there had been any hope of her recovering from his death before, it was all gone now. She'd lost Damon again, and it had destroyed her. It may have been a hallucination or a dream, but it had felt real. His touch, his voice, his lips. All of it had felt real. And to Elena, he had been real. Even if no-one else had seen him, or witnessed their encounter, it had been the most real thing she'd experienced since losing him, and nothing would convince her that Damon had not reached out to her somehow, and had come back to her.

But he'd left her again. She'd lost him again. She was empty again.

Damon had told her to let him go, but she now knew that was impossible. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't let him go; he was so intricately part of her being that she'd have to sacrifice herself in an attempt to let go of him.

Damon had always hoped that she'd love him, that she'd want him like he had wanted her and truly love him. And when she finally did love him – deeply, overwhelmingly, infinitely – he died and left her, leaving her alone to pick up the pieces of her shattered heart and soul.

She loved Damon with an intensity deeper than she thought one could ever love someone and, ultimately, her love for him did destroy her. When he had died and she'd truly lost him, the most unbearable pain overtook her body, tearing apart everything that made it whole, leaving only fragments behind. The pain had been a ravenous beast, intent on taking every aspect of her being and tearing it to pieces. And it had succeeded.

She was not whole without Damon, and she knew she'd never be, unless he returned to her. If only he could return to her.

"You need to eat something, Elena." Caroline said, waking Elena from her reverie. "You haven't eaten in days."

Elena turned to look at Caroline, who was sitting on her own bed, staring at Elena with worried eyes.

"I'm not hungry." Elena responded truthfully. She hadn't craved food, or blood, for days.

"Elena, this is not what Damon–"

"Don't speak to me about Damon." Elena interjected heatedly. "Don't speak to me about him, Caroline." Damon was a topic she would not discuss with Caroline.

Caroline sighed. "Elena..." She began slowly, "I know this is difficult, and I can't even begin to try and understand how you feel, but you need to let him go. It's what he would have wanted, in order for you to be happy."

"I said DON'T talk to me about Damon!" Elena snapped. She glared at Caroline accusatorily. "You couldn't stand him."

Caroline looked shocked, even offended. "It doesn't mean I wanted him dead. He was Stefan's brother."

Elena laughed scathingly. "Yes, and he died to bring Stefan back to life. You, who kept on _whining_ and _whining_ about how he had to bring Stefan back. And he did, at the cost of his own life. So while _you_ got Stefan back, _I_ lost Damon." She struggled to resist the tears brimming just below the surface. "So don't you dare tell me to move on, or even try and explain to me what Damon would have _wanted_. You may think you knew him, but you had no idea who he was. You still don't."

Caroline remained silent, utter perplexity lining her face as Elena continued to glare at her. Elena could practically see the thoughts flooding through Caroline's mind, and noticed her struggle to form an adequate response to Elena's sentiments.

Elena had not meant to be so abrasive, but she was fed up of Caroline's ignorance and her unwanted advice. Caroline could not possibly understand how she felt, and Elena was simply exhausted trying to pretend that Caroline's sympathetic looks, unhelpful implications, and attempts to understand Elena's agony did not infuriate her.

She simply needed to get away from everything that reminded her of Damon, and everyone who kept on telling her to get over him.

It's not like she actually blamed Stefan for Damon's death – she loved Stefan and had wanted him back as much as Damon had – but she didn't think that she'd have to lose Damon in order to get Stefan back. Naturally, Stefan had been overwhelmed with grief and guilt that Damon had died in order to save him, and Elena knew that Stefan would've refused to leave the Other Side if it meant that Damon would live. She understood it, because she would have done the same thing. But it seemed easier to blame someone for Damon's death, because then somehow it would be easier accepting it.

Not that she even did accept it.

It had been six months, and she still could not accept that Damon and Bonnie were gone forever, and that she would never see either of them again. How could a person even accept that? She had lost two of the people that had meant the most to her, and she wondered how she'd ever be able to accept that they would never be in her life again. It was simply a realisation that she could not accept, no matter how real it seemed to be.

Everything seemed to indicate that Damon and Bonnie would never return, that they were dead forever, having sacrificed themselves to save the rest of them. At Elena's insistence, Jeremy constantly checked and informed Elena that the Other Side was simply gone – there were no ghosts, no supernatural beings, no Damon and Bonnie, and so no possibility of the existence of the Other Side. But Elena could not resist the urge to hope that there was some tiny chance that Damon and Bonnie would come back, that they'd find a way to return to them all. She knew it was crazy for her to have hope, but her heart refused to believe that she'd lost them forever. Maybe this was her form of denial, but she'd accept that, because then she wouldn't have to face the possibility that they were permanently gone from her life. If she was forced to face that reality, she didn't think she'd survive it. Which was why she simply could not tolerate Caroline's incessant suggestions to move on.

A heavy silence had filled the room, and Caroline had opted to remain quiet in response to Elena's outburst. Elena sighed, feeling slightly bad for speaking to Caroline the way she had, and for what she had said.

"I'm sorry." Elena uttered softly to Caroline, mild regret evident in her tone.

"No, I'm sorry." Caroline responded apologetically. "You're right – I didn't know Damon. And I didn't lose him the way you did. So I can't expect you to feel a certain way." She looked at Elena with a pained expression. "It just pains me to see you like this."

Elena smiled sadly. "Not more than it pains me…I don't want to feel like this, Caroline. I wish I could do what you want me to, and simply move on. But I _can't_." Elena remained silent for a few seconds, attempting to compress the tears craving to flow from her eyes. "I love Damon." She said forlornly. "I'm always going to love him. I've loved him more than I've ever loved anyone. So moving on is not possible for me." As she spoke these words, she deemed them the most truthful words she'd ever uttered in her entire life. Damon would always be in her heart with such an intensity that would make it impossible for her to move on. She'd simply have to rip her heart out to get over him, which, admittedly, she had sometimes been tempted to do since his death.

"There must be a way to bring them back." She uttered, barely above a whisper, to Caroline, as if saying the words too loud would diminish the possibility contained in them.

She lifted her eyes to meet Caroline's, and saw Caroline's expression change from abrupt confusion to pity.

"We've tried, Elena." Caroline responded softly, almost scared to say anything out of fear that Elena would have another outburst. "Jeremy told us – the Other Side no longer exists. He can't see anything there, or anyone. It's simply gone."

Elena refused to believe the finality Caroline was implying. "But they must have gone somewhere, Caroline!" she protested. "They always find a way to survive! Just because Jeremy can't see them doesn't mean they're gone forever!"

Caroline shook her head sombrely. "Elena, I want them back just as much as you do, but there isn't a way for them to come back. They're…_dead_." Caroline choked on the last word, her eyes beginning to convey her own sorrow for the loss of Damon and Bonnie.

Elena surveyed Caroline musingly. They stood in silence for an unusually long time, neither choosing to utter another word, until Elena broke the silence once coming to a realisation concerning Caroline.

"It's easier for you to believe that they're not coming back." She said squarely, as Caroline looked at her curiously in response. "Because then you don't need to have hope, hope that you'll see them again. You'd rather accept that they're dead than face the disappointment of them not returning to us if you believed that they would."

Caroline opened her mouth to respond but closed it soon after, at a clear loss for words.

Elena knew she had been right – Caroline was scared to have hope, because often, hope was more destructive than the reality of death. Elena did not blame Caroline for having this mind-set, for she understood that everyone dealt with grief in their own way. She did not know how deeply Caroline had been affected by Bonnie's death, and even Damon's, but she knew her best friend had been devastated to a certain degree, even if it wasn't as intensely as Elena had been and still was.

"I refuse to believe that they're gone forever, Caroline." She said, more to herself than her friend. "They just can't be."

Caroline looked at Elena sympathetically and sighed. "I don't know what I can tell you. You seem determined to believe that they'll come back. Just like Stefan."

At the mention of Stefan's name, Elena became enthused. "Has he found a way?" she asked eagerly. "Does he know how to bring them back?"

"No, Elena." Caroline responded, slightly exasperated. "He has tried everything, but he has found no way. Because there simply _isn't_ one."

Elena held up a hand in defiance. "Caroline, I'm not going to argue with you about this." She found herself becoming more and more determined. "When last did you speak to Stefan? For all you know, he may have just found a way."

"I spoke to him yesterday." Caroline replied matter-of-factly. "But I'm meeting up with him today."

"Why?" Elena asked curiously.  
Caroline frowned in puzzlement. "Well, I haven't seen him in a while. Between my classes and his little adventures trying to find a way to bring Damon and Bonnie back, we've both been rather busy to see each other." Elena continued to look at her curiously. "I mean, it's nothing weird." Caroline added.

"Isn't it?" Elena enquired, as she raised an eyebrow.

Caroline began to blush, confirming Elena suspicions that there was more to Stefan and Caroline's relationship than just friendship – at least from Caroline's side; Elena hadn't seen Stefan in ages to perceive if the apparent feelings were reciprocated.

Elena was slightly surprised by this new development. Perhaps it wasn't exactly new, and it had developed over the past six months, but she had been so involved in her own despair since Damon and Bonnie's deaths that she hadn't really paid attention to much else, especially with anything concerning Caroline and Stefan.

She found the situation slightly awkward concerning her history with Stefan, but she really could not judge Caroline for falling for him. Stefan was one of the best guys that she knew, one who Caroline deserved and who deserved her.

Elena would probably still have been with Stefan had she never met Damon, but falling for Stefan's older brother had altered everything in her life. Damon had made her happier than she thought anyone could ever be, and being with him, loving him, and being loved by him convinced her that he was the one she belonged with, the only one she was meant to be with; and no prophecy or doppelganger "spell" would make her think otherwise. For all eternity, Damon would be the one she belonged with – death could not change what was real and what was fact, it could not alter who would forever remain imprinted in her heart and soul, it only postponed the inevitable; that she would ultimately end up with Damon, be it in death or in life.

Elena had lost the love of her life, but she had been lucky enough to have been with him, and she certainly was not going to prohibit Caroline or Stefan from finding theirs and spending their lives with them. If it happened to be each other, then she'd accept it, because after everything, she wanted nothing more than for both of them to be happy. Just because she could not have a future with her true love did not mean they could not have with theirs, even if it so happened to be with each other.

Of course, it had never occurred to her that Stefan and Caroline would ever become romantically involved, but then again, it had initially never occurred to her that she would fall in love with Damon either, and yet he had turned out to be the love of her life. So who knew what was in store for Stefan and Caroline? Both of them were her best friends and – the initial awkwardness aside – she'd be happy for them if they found happiness with each other. After losing Damon, she realised just how fleeting happiness could be, so she'd be all for Stefan and Caroline embracing their relationship if it made them happy.

"It's nothing, Elena." Caroline said in response to Elena's enquiry, attempting to remove any hint of her feelings for Stefan. "He's…we're just friends." Caroline did not look Elena in the eyes as she said this, and Elena smiled secretly at her friend's poor attempt at concealment. However, she chose not to take the subject further.

"Well, when you see Stefan-" she began, as Caroline's eyes focused on hers again. "Find out if he's found a way to bring Damon and Bonnie back. He _must have _found a way." She said expectantly.

Caroline nodded slowly. "I will see, but do not get your hopes up, Elena. It will only destroy you if it turns out there isn't a way for them to return."

"They will return." Elena said defiantly. "Damon is the love of my life, and I will not rest until he comes back to me. He made me a promise, and he will fulfil it. He always does."

Caroline nodded again, a commiserative expression on her face. "I hope you're right."

After a short moment of silence between them, Elena turned away from Caroline, feeling the conversation had reached its conclusion, and unwilling to continue it any further.

She suddenly realised that she was exceptionally tired. She looked at the clock on her bedside table and read the time to be 2pm. It was daylight, but it made no difference to her. Her sleep had been interrupted so often with dreams, nightmares and hallucinations – all of him – that her sleeping patterns were so inconsistent and rarely predictable. During the six months that had passed, she'd hardly slept, and she'd savour any opportunity of sleep she received. So, lifting herself to get under the covers of her bed, she decided to take advantage of her lethargy and sleep, not caring how long she would sleep or when she'd wake up.

She lay her head on her pillow and closed her eyes, knowing she was about to meet Damon soon.

With any luck, she thought, Stefan had found a way, and she'd soon see Damon without having to sleep or hallucinate…he'd be beside her, he'd be real, and she'd finally prefer reality to sleep again. Her heart fluttered with hope at this thought, while her mind faded off into unconsciousness.

**Stefan**

In the end, nothing lasts.

You can be immortal and have the promise of eternal life, and it still won't last. What was the point of being immortal if you could die anyway? Wasn't the point of immortality living forever? So then why did the two people he knew the longest and who had been immortal died, supposedly permanently?

Stefan had tried over and over again to accept this contradiction, but no matter how many times he contemplated it, or from how many angles he looked at it, he could not understand how his brother and best friend could be dead. It simply did not make sense.

He understood death, of course. After all, he had died. But he had come back to life. He had returned from the dead. So how was he supposed to accept that his brother and best friend could not return, and that their deaths were permanent? Damon had finally gotten everything he'd ever wanted, how was it fair that it had all be snatched away from him in an instant? Stefan struggled to understand how Damon performing heroic conduct could result in him suffering a permanent death and losing everything that made him happy. Did heroes not deserve a happy ending? Or did such things only exist in comics and movies?

_Na__ï__ve, Stefan, that's what you are_.

That's exactly what Damon would tell him. That he was naïve to assume that everyone got what they deserved.

But Damon had always been a pessimist when it came to his own life. He'd always refused to believe that he deserved anything even remotely good. And when he'd finally accepted that he might, just might, deserve happiness that had been in the form of Elena, he died before he could spend the life he had always wanted with her.

There was a time when Stefan would have relished Damon's loss – even his death – but that time was long gone. He'd lost his brother, and he didn't think he'd be able to overcome the grief that seemed to haunt him everywhere he went. And he'd lost his best friend, again, making the grief seem an endless cycle of misery intended only for him.

Maybe he was getting what he deserved, exactly what _The Ripper_ deserved...destitution, anguish, loneliness. Maybe Damon was right, and happy endings simply did not exist for vampires. Had the past not already proven that? Death and sorrow seemed to latch onto every vampire he'd ever known, why would he or Damon or Lexi be any different?

"You're moping again, Brother."

Stefan turned in the direction of the voice, and saw his brother leaning against the pillar of the _Archives_ room of the Whitmore Library, arms crossed and expression passive.

Stefan snorted. "Since when does that bother you?"

"Well since you're the last remaining Salvatore. We all need the last Salvatore to be at least partly happy. And life already is too much of a downer. A walking grey cloud is really not needed." A large grin formed on Damon's face, with a sense of familiarity that caused a small pang in Stefan's chest.

Stefan merely smiled in response to Damon's statement, a thoughtful expression on his face as he gazed at his brother. "You need to come back, you know. Elena needs you."

"No, she needs _you_." He replied bluntly, dropping his arms from his chest and walking towards Stefan. "I'm dead, you're alive. So you be there for her."

"I can't." Stefan replied simply, as Damon stopped a few feet in front of him. "I've been there for Elena too many times. I can't now." He looked at Damon hopelessly. "I don't know how to be." Damon's expression saddened, but he remained silent. "Besides, it won't do any good. It's you she needs. Only you who can help her. Not me."

"Well that's not an option, Stefan. I can't come back."

"So you're resigned to your fate, then?" Stefan asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

"I'm a fatalist, remember?" He responded, a playful smirk lining his face. "I don't believe in happy endings, at least not for me." The smirk on Damon's face gradually disappeared, and was replaced by a rather solemn expression. "But Elena can have one, although she doesn't think so now. So you need to help her move on. You are both doppelgangers, after all. Make use of your weird doppelganger…_connection_."

"You think that's going to make a difference?" Stefan questioned, incredulously. "It didn't stop her from falling for you. It won't make her get over you."

"Well find a way then, Stefan. You're not entirely clueless. She needs to move on. Because I'm not coming back to her. I can't. So you be there for her." His demeanour became troubled. "She's losing herself."

Stefan looked heavily at Damon. "I can't help her, Damon. Whatever I do won't change the fact that she lost you, that we both did. The only thing that can make a difference is if you come back. If there's hope that you can come back."

Damon sighed, simultaneously rolling his eyes. "You've got to stop this, Stefan. You've got to give up trying to find a way to bring me back. There isn't one."

"You're my brother." Stefan retorted. "How can you expect me to give up? You wouldn't."

Damon smiled. "Maybe, but you're not me. And sometimes I can be too stubborn to accept the facts, even when they're staring me in the face." Damon placed his hands on Stefan's shoulders, and looked at him seriously. "I am dead, Stefan. Nothing you do can change that."

Stefan slowly shook his head. "You don't know that. One thing I have learned after all these years, is that there's always a way. Even if it seems impossible."

"Stefan –" Damon began sternly. "You're just giving yourself false hope. And it won't do you any good. Give up now before it kills you."

"I'm already dead, remember?" Stefan countered.

"Don't be a smartass. For once, just listen to me." Damon stared piercingly at Stefan, no doubt a futile attempt to get Stefan to relent his determination. Stefan did not budge.

"How about you just trust me? _I can get you back_." Stefan uttered pleadingly.

Damon sighed, a weak smile on his face. "This isn't about trust, Brother. This is about facts. And the fact is that I cannot come back. So don't fool yourself into believing I can."

Stefan sighed, deciding to take another route in his argument. "You made a promise to Elena. Or did you forget about that?"

Damon dropped his hands from Stefan's shoulders. "Really? You're going to play that card?"

"Well it's all Elena could agonise about after losing you." He replied, shrugging. "She simply couldn't stop. You promised to come back to her. So follow through with it." Stefan articulated the last statement as a command, hoping that it would somehow inspire Damon to believe that he could return to them.

"I wish it were that simple." He responded gravely, his expression heavy.

"Only you are making it difficult." Stefan retorted boldly.

Damon laughed. "Really, Stefan? You think this is a matter of attitude? _I am dead_. It's reality. Not belief, not perception, not illusion. I am indubitably _dead_. No alteration of attitude will change that fact."

Stefan stared at his brother, unwilling to believe that the only times he would ever see him again would be in hallucinations or memories. "Perseverance can." He uttered evenly.

"_I am dead_." Damon uttered sharply. "Accept that."

"Never." Stefan replied, his unrelenting determination expanding within him.

Damon scowled. "Well then you're a fool."

"Then I am one." Stefan fired back. "But don't expect me to give up on you just because the prospect of you returning seems impossible. You're my brother. That hasn't changed simply because you're dead. It never will."

Damon looked at Stefan austerely, and shook his head. "One day, your unyielding faith is going to destroy you, Brother."

Stefan shrugged. "If that's what it takes to get you back, then so be it."

Damon emitted a low, inward laugh. "Stefan Salvatore, ever the hero."

Stefan smiled. "Let's not forget what got you into this situation in the first place." He looked at Damon with a pained expression. "You died to save me."

"And I would do it again." Damon responded assertively. "My sacrifice was not in vain. Don't you even think otherwise."

Stefan wanted to believe Damon, craved to heed his command and believe that Damon's death was not his fault, but he couldn't. If it was not for him, Damon would never have gone to the Other Side, and he would've been alive now.

"Stefan-" Damon began, seeming to have read Stefan's thoughts. "This is not your fault. _I_ chose to die to go to the Other Side. It was _my_ decision. Don't try and take the credit." He smirked teasingly, in an attempt to lighten Stefan's spirits.

Stefan was about to voice a response when a familiar voice interrupted him.

"There you are!" expressed Caroline Forbes in relief. He turned to see Caroline rushing to hug him.

"You didn't tell me you'd be all the way back here." She said, as she broke their hug and stepped back to look at him. "I had to search all over this place to find you."

Stefan turned to look behind him, realising that Damon had disappeared. He sighed in disappointment, but turned back to look at Caroline.

"I'm sorry, I uh, got distracted by what was back here." He said, smiling at her.

He hadn't seen Caroline in days, and was happy to see her now. She was his small comfort in his world of pain, and he'd value every moment he got to spend with her.

Caroline looked around at the room, finally resting her eyes on a book lying on the table Stefan had utilised.

"Clearly." She said, lifting the book to read its title. "_The Dark World And Beyond: Realms That Exist Beyond Our Senses._" She sighed, and looked back up at Stefan. "This is about Damon, isn't it? You're still trying to bring him back?"

"Did you doubt that I would?" Stefan responded sceptically. "He's my brother, Caroline. I will not give up trying to find a way to bring him back. He wouldn't if he was in my position."

Caroline looked at Stefan pensively, softly dropping the book back onto the table. "I know that." She said soothingly. "But it's been six months and your efforts have been fruitless. Don't you think it's now time for you to accept that they're just not coming back?"

Stefan shook his head slowly, wishing she could understand that nothing would sway his determination. "I will not give up, Caroline." He said composedly. "He's my brother. He did everything to save me, to bring me back to life. I owe him the same in return."

"But he's nowhere, Stefan." Caroline expressed agitatedly. "He isn't on the Other Side like you were. It's gone. He and Bonnie are both _gone_. Why can't you and Elena just accept that we are _not_ getting them back?"

"Because that alternative is unacceptable." Stefan replied firmly. "I'd rather have hope that they can come back than be resigned and believe that they cannot."

"Don't you think I also want them back, that I want them to be alive?!" Caroline yelled, her sudden outburst shocking Stefan. She immediately regretted her loss of temper, and calmed herself.

She looked at Stefan with an expression full of sadness, reminding Stefan that he had not been the only one who had lost a loved one. "I lost my best friend, Stefan, _again_, and I never even had a chance to say goodbye to her." She choked out the last few words, and Stefan noticed her struggle to fight the tears evidently forming in her eyes. "And regardless of how I felt about Damon, he was your brother. And I want him back, not only for you, but for my other best friend." She wiped the tears brimming in her eyes. "I've lost Bonnie, I don't think I'll be able to handle it if I lose Elena as well. And she's slipping so fast without Damon. She's not herself. She's lost, and nothing I do – or anyone else does – can bring her back to reality. Often I wonder if she will ever recover from losing him." Her expression became pensive. "She really loved him." She uttered, as if it was a realisation she had only now discovered. "I mean, I always knew she did, but I never realised just how _deeply_ she did, and I honestly don't know if she even _can_ recover. If I lost the love of my life, I don't know if I'd be able to move on and find the will to continue living. But I don't want a fate like that for Elena. She needs to live. She needs to want to live." Caroline momentarily placed her face in her hands and shook her head. "I just don't know how to get her to feel that way."

Stefan viewed Caroline sympathetically, his own grief slightly subsiding as he felt hers. Over these six months, Caroline had been his main source of comfort. She had supported him, consoled him, remaining stoic in the face of her own grief at the loss of Bonnie. She had not once broken down – at least not in front of him – and she had miraculously managed to be there for both him and Elena when she herself had suffered a tragic loss. She was the epitome of true strength, and he felt like such a fool for having overlooked her pain. He mentally reprimanded himself for never having been there for her the way she may have needed him to, the way she had steadfastly been there for him.

Caroline had moved to sit down on the chair beside the table, and Stefan subsequently joined her, sitting beside her and shifting in his seat to face her. He hesitantly, but gently, placed his hand on her hand, and peered heavily at her as she turned her eyes up to look at him.

"I don't think you can, Caroline." He said softly, in response to her confession. "No-one can get Elena to feel anything. She, and she alone, needs to decide what she wants to do, and what she wants from life. But she's lost Damon, and on top of that, Bonnie, so I don't know if she even wants anything from life, except both of them back."

Caroline shook her head, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. "I wish they would come back."

Stefan lightly squeezed her hand. "They just might." He hesitated before he uttered his next words, afraid that saying them out loud would curse the possibility. "I may have found a way to bring them back."

Caroline brusquely looked up, stunned. "How?" she asked inquisitively.

"Well, according to this-" he said, as he lifted the book Caroline had previously perused, and turned to the page he had previously scrutinised to death before his hallucinated conversation with Damon. "There is a realm, called the Dark Dimension that exists after death." He found the page, and rotated the book towards Caroline as she began to read. "It is described as a sort of purgatory where supernatural beings are exiled to after they die and have transcended the Other Side."

Caroline continued to read, and then abruptly stopped. "It says that a select number of supernatural entities reside there." She said, as she looked up at him curiously. "That does not encompass all supernatural beings. How do we know that Bonnie and Damon are there?"

Stefan shrugged. "It's the only valid hope we have. We have to believe that they are there."

Caroline sighed, and placed the book on the table. "Let's say that they are there – how on earth are we supposed to access the Dark Dimension? From what I've just read, the realm seems impenetrable."

Stefan smiled. "If you've lived as long as I have, Caroline, you'll realise that nothing is impenetrable. The realm exists, and supernatural beings were able to transport there from the Other Side, meaning that there must be a way for them to gain passage back."

"How did you even get this book?" Caroline asked suspiciously. "It's hardly a book that will be lying around in the bookshelf of a public library."

Stefan laughed. "Well, not anyone can gain entry into this section – it is heavily restricted from just anyone. Naturally, I used compulsion."

Caroline rolled her eyes playfully. "Of course you did. But how did you even know it was here?"

Stefan sighed. "That's a long story, Caroline. One I hardly think we need to confront right now. The main concern is trying to find a way to open the gate to the Dark Dimension."

"You know we're going to need a witch, right?" Caroline stated matter-of-factly. "Penetrating any realm requires magic – a spell. Only a witch can conjure a spell."

Stefan thought for a while in response to Caroline's statement, and then began to grin. "We already have a witch. Two actually. The ones who got us into this mess."

"The Parkers?" Caroline inquired sceptically. "You really think _they're_ going to help us after everything that's happened?"

"That's exactly why they should help us." Stefan replied sternly. "Besides, they don't have a choice. They _will_ offer their assistance, or we will provide them with the proper motivation." Stefan was committed to resorting to any means necessary to get his brother back, even if it meant killing others in order to do so.

Caroline nodded in agreement, seeming to feel the same way. "We just need to find them, and that could be relatively tricky."

"Well, we'll just have to track them then." He replied simply. "I'll ask Alaric for help. His tracking skills have increased immensely since his transition." He was sure Alaric would be relieved to have something to do, especially if that something involved getting Damon back.

"Okay, good." Caroline responded. She looked at Stefan entreatingly. "I hope this is the answer, Stefan. I hope this means they'll come back to us, _actually_ come back to us."

"We will see them again, Caroline." Stefan replied, as he gently patted her hand with his. "Now that we have found a way, it's only a matter of time until we do."

Caroline smiled cheerfully in response.

This is what Stefan had been waiting for. This is what they'd all been waiting for. Finally, after six months of rigorous investigation, at the moment when he thought all hope was lost, he'd found a way to bring his brother back. He'd be able to see Damon again, not as a hallucination, but as a real, living being. All he now needed to do was track down the Parkers, and then he'd be one step closer to seeing his brother again, and hopefully, Bonnie and Lexi as well.

Of course, it all really depended on if they actually were in the Dark Dimension as he believed. He needed them to be in the Dark Dimension, for it was his last hope of finding them, and seeing them again. If he managed to open the other realm and they were not there, he'd lose whatever sanity remained within him, and that would not be good for anyone.

No, he thought, definitely not.

They had to come back – basically everything depended on it.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I apologise for taking so long to update, things have been rather hectic lately, and I've recently suffered a temporary bout of writer's block. But all is good again!**

**A significant event happens in this chapter, and it is necessary for the development of this story, so please keep that in mind once you've read this chapter. I do hope you enjoy it.**

**I will try to update as soon as possible.**

**CHAPTER SIX**

**Damon**

When life gives you lemons, make tequila. At least, that's how the saying goes anyway.

Damon thought he could do with tequila at this moment, for life had thrown him a shitload of lemons, and they were beginning to smother him, suffocating him with their incessant blows.

How the hell was he supposed to kill Rose? He thought life couldn't get any worse in the Dark Dimension, but it had all gone to hell now. To say that he was in a massive predicament would be an understatement, the understatement of the century, or forever actually.

To anyone the solution to his predicament was simple – kill Rose, because she was standing in his way of getting home.

But to Damon, it was much more complicated than a straightforward decision. He wanted nothing more than to get home, to reunite with Elena, and Stefan, but how could he kill Rose when she had been one of his few friends in the living realm, and his only friend – besides Bonnie – here in the Dark Dimension? Rose had helped him maintain his sanity in this depressing place, and now he was supposed to completely disregard her for the sake of going back? He could weigh the alternatives, but he was simply too afraid to, knowing that if he did, his conclusion would be to kill Rose.

Elena or Rose? Was that a question he even needed to ask himself? The answer would always be Elena; he'd always choose Elena – for him to try to think that he wouldn't, would be insane or merely wishful thinking.

So he knew that he had to kill Rose, but he desperately craved another solution that would grant him Rose's survival and his definite return to the living realm.

But his life had never been so easy.

He never thought he'd see Elena again, and when Bonnie had told him she'd found a way for them to escape, he at first believed it too good to be true. But Bonnie had found a way – she'd actually come through with their plan – and now they could return to their loved ones.

After believing that he'd never see Elena again, and realising he'd finally be able to, there was no way anything or anyone would stop him from getting back to her. He had made her a promise, and he was determined to follow through with it – even if it meant killing the one person who'd been his companion in the Dark Dimension.

The solution seemed pretty simple now to Damon – kill Rose. But a feeling of uncertainty aroused within him, for he truly wondered that when it really came down to it and he was forced to kill Rose and watch her die, if he would actually be able to do it. Would he be able to follow through with the newly constructed plan and get back to the living realm with Bonnie?

It was a question that nagged him consistently, gnawing into his mind with unlimited derision.

"The way I see this," uttered Rose distinctly from her cell. "there are only two ways out: I die or you do." She and Damon had both remained silent after hearing of their impending duel, both choosing to drown in their thoughts rather than say aloud what they both knew.

Damon lifted his head slowly to meet her eyes. A weak smile lined her face, while her eyes wore signs of melancholy.

Damon sighed. "I'm sorry, Rose. I never should have lost my temper the way I did. It's my fault we're in this mess." He could tell himself a million things to justify why they were in this position, forced to fight each other 'til the death, but ultimately, it was his conduct that had landed them here. Had he restrained himself, and maintained his self-control, neither of them would even be in this cell, let alone in the duel.

Rose shifted her body slightly, positioning it to lean comfortably against the back wall of the cell. "They would have gotten us one way or another, Damon." She responded plainly. "This isn't your fault."

Damon wished he could believe that. "Maybe, but it wouldn't have been now." He brushed specks of dirt off his dark denims before looking at her again. "And we'd have gotten to escape before they tried anything."

"You don't know that." Rose responded evenly. "For all we know, the fight could have been a cover, a farce." Damon couldn't restrain his amusement at Rose's optimism concerning him. She usually did try to make him seem less guilty than what he actually was.

"No, listen-" Rose retorted, as Damon began laughing. "It's not so far-fetched, you know." She looked at Damon sternly, and he thought it best not to mock her with his laughter, even though that had not been his intention. He refrained from laughing, and she subsequently continued. "Elias probably wanted them to kill us, planned the ridiculous brawl. But then we killed them instead, and he conveniently ordered us in the duel. He couldn't succeed with the brawl, so he's trying the duel."

Damon shook his head in slight disbelief. "This isn't _Game of Thrones_, Rose. No-one is _out to get us_ for being here. This is the Dark Dimension. We're all stuck in this place. No-one actually _wants_ to be here, or gain power over it. The only ruler of the Dark Dimension is the Dark Dimension."

"That's where you're wrong." Rose responded, seeming to become more convinced by her own argument. "This may be the Dark Dimension, Damon, but we all know that Elias pulls the strings – at least, to a certain extent." She stood up and moved towards him, leaning against the bars of the cell. Damon waited for her to continue.

She craned her neck to see if they were alone, before turning back to him. "He's wanted us dead from the start." She stated, lowering her voice. "We've been a threat to his form of tyranny for a long time, simply because we are not dominated by his fear tactics. And now-" she pointed down to nowhere in particular to emphasise her point. "He's conveniently placed us in the duel, against each other, knowing one of us will have to kill the other." She sighed, peering at him with such certainty that Damon could not protest.

Not that he actually would.

Rose did have a point – neither of them had ever shown the least amount of respect for Elias or adherence to his stupid fabricated rules, and they knew from the beginning that that had not rubbed Elias the right way. But it's not like they had cared. They were in the Dark Dimension – as far as they were concerned, nothing could get worse, and they'd rather melt than submit to the dictatorship of a power-hungry fool. It had probably been his futile ambition that had gotten him here, _Macbeth_ style.

Damon sighed, and stood up. "Maybe you're right. But it makes no difference. The endgame is still the same: one of us will die."

Rose's eyes dropped from Damon's, her expression that had a moment ago conveyed unbreakable certainty, now fell to sadness and fear.

Damon turned away from her, fearing that if he looked at her any longer he might just give up his determination right there. The more the minutes passed, the more his resolve to win the duel weakened.

He walked towards the front of his cell, resting his face between the bars, and gripping the bars with both hands. He couldn't look at Rose, knowing that he was about to kill her – or try to, at least. She was older than him, after all, and her age qualified her as stronger and more experienced than him. But Damon truly wondered if she would take advantage of her superiority.

"Look-" Rose began hesitantly. Damon turned his head slightly to signify his attention to her words, but he did not look at her.

Footsteps stopped Rose from continuing whatever she wanted to say, and they both turned to face the stairs of the dungeon, awaiting the inevitable announcement that their duel was minutes away.

Guntar descended the stairs, a gleeful smirk all over his face as he neared them.

He smiled at them roguishly, his lips parting to reveal ugly yellow teeth. Damon squirmed inwardly at the sight.

"The time has come, little murderers." Guntar said, hardly caring to restrain his excitement. "Time for one of you to _die_." He lingered on the last word, stretching the enunciation to express his utter glee at their despairing circumstances. Damon wanted nothing more than to break Guntar's face, to see the fear in his eyes as he tore into his arteries and made him beg for forgiveness. But he doubted he'd get the chance.

Four men Damon had never previously seen entered the dungeon, joining Guntar's side as Guntar continued to sneer at them. Two of the men held long chains in their hands, and Damon hardly needed explanation for what or who they were for.

Guntar lifted his hand and pointed to both him and Rose as he spoke. "Now let me make this clear." He stated, his pathetic leer replaced by a stern expression. "No funny business as we transport you. Especially from you." He pointed directly at Damon, glaring at him. "I have permission to rip your hearts out if you try to escape. That would spoil the fun of the duel, but I won't hesitate to do it. One – or maybe both – of you will die today, but it depends on you how that will be. Don't be idiots."

Damon laughed inwardly at the irony, considering that the advice had come from the world's biggest idiot. He did not voice his amusement, however.

Guntar nodded to the men beside him, gesturing for them to open the cells and attend to Damon and Rose.

Damon and Rose looked at each other, contemplating if they should try their luck and attack, but before they could attempt any sort of escape, the two men without chains in their hands began to chant, causing severe aneurysms in both Damon and Rose's brains, and disabling them from fighting back.

Damon fell down from the pain, pressing his hands to his temples in a futile effort to stop the pain from persisting. He felt hands roughly grasp his arms and pull them down, he being too numbed by the pain to resist. Cold chains wrapped around his wrists, and as he attempted to shake free from them, a stinging sensation affected his skin, burning it slightly. Damon realised that they'd doused the chains in vervain, and he immediately halted his attempts at breaking free from them.

As the debilitating pain in his head subsided, he stood up, almost falling down again due to the shackles around his ankles. He resisted the urge to charge towards Guntar and his henchmen, knowing that doing so would only trigger the vervain and weaken him substantially.

He turned to look at Rose, who had also stood up, shackled and breathing heavily out of anger, her glare burning holes into Guntar's skull.

"You bastard!" she spat. "How can you enjoy watching people kill each other to the death? To relish in the unmitigated slaying of innocent blood?"

Guntar scoffed. "Oh please! Innocent? That's the funniest joke I've ever heard. You two are very far from innocent."

"You know what I mean!" Rose hissed. "You're a sadistic son of a bitch, willingly leading people to their brutal deaths!"

Guntar shrugged. "It doesn't have to be brutal, you know? That's entirely up to the two of you." He winked at her, his leer returning to indicate his enjoyment at Rose's anger, anger that Damon knew was essentially borne out of fear. He had no idea what she was thinking, but he knew that she hated the thought of killing him just as much as he hated the thought of killing her. They were in an intractable situation, and Damon really did not know what the end result of it would be.

"Come." Grunted Guntar in his Russian accent, pulling at the chains of both Damon and Rose. "Everyone is waiting."

Looking at Rose momentarily, Damon began to move slowly behind Guntar while Rose followed suit. The four unnamed men followed behind them. "And remember-" Guntar stopped and turned to face them. "Any funny business, and you're dead." Damon simply glared, resisting the urge to bust Guntar's face in.

As they walked up the stairs and exited the prison, the hollow feeling deep in the pit of Damon's stomach intensified, clouding his mind with uncertainty of what to do. There was only two ways that this could go – he would kill Rose and live to see Elena again, or she'd kill him and Bonnie would have to leave without him. Either result was undesirable, but one of them he'd have to face. As he heard Rose's footsteps behind him and basically sensed the anxiety rolling off her in waves, he wondered how he'd ever be able to inflict the final blow that would take her life, and this time, permanently.

He could try and convince himself that it would be a mercy killing – she'd finally be at peace, but he knew he'd never believe it, for who the hell knew what was awaiting one after death in the Dark Dimension? Rumours had spread that death in the Dark Dimension was only physical – one's consciousness remained, confined in the hell of a physical destruction, unable to move, speak or do anything but be trapped in a state impossible to escape. But they had only been rumours, and paranoia often got the better of people.

Whether or not the rumours were credible, Damon did not wish death for Rose. He wanted her to escape with him and Bonnie, to enter the living realm and have a second chance at the immortal life that had been snatched away from her because of his actions. And yet again, his actions would lead to her death, or could lead there if she did not overpower him…if she did not _want_ to overpower him.

Ultimately, this duel would be a battle of the wills, of which will would be more determined to defeat its opponent, more determined to kill. And as they loomed closer to the arena seating the countless inhabitants of the Dark Dimension waiting to see which one of them would die, Damon wondered whose will would win out in the end.

**Bonnie**

One of the worst feelings in the world is anticipation for the unknown. Not knowing how things would turn out. Not knowing if anything would be the way you wanted it to be, the way you hoped it would be.

They'd been so close to leaving, to escaping, and now their prospect of escape seemed so far away, fading further and further from view the closer the unavoidable duel approached. How could she have been so stupid to believe that escaping would be so easy? That things would go off without a hitch and they'd leave this dastardly place once and for all?

Bonnie cursed her own naivety. Had she learned nothing from her life? After everything she'd been through and endured, how could she have been foolish enough to believe that escaping would be so simple, so uncomplicated? She'd simply hoped that, this time, things would be different. Disappointment was such a bitch.

She wrapped her arms around her to protect herself against the cold as she walked swiftly towards the arena where the duel was about to occur. She hoped she'd get to see Damon before the duel commenced, deduce his mood and estimate whether or not he was motivated enough to win. Had he been about to fight a stranger, she wouldn't need to deduce anything, knowing that Damon would kill without blinking an eye if it meant getting back to Elena. But, considering that his opponent was Rose, it made things a lot more difficult. Bonnie was fairly certain that Damon would be willing to kill Rose, because killing her meant he'd have an opportunity to return to the living realm, but she knew that he'd be tortured by the decision. Rose was, after all, one of Damon's very few friends, and killing her would not be easy – emotionally and physically. She prayed that he'd be able to do it, because if she had to choose between Damon's survival or Rose's, she'd choose Damon's – for Elena, and surprisingly, for herself. If they weren't in such sinister circumstances, she'd laugh at the fact that it took them dying together for her and Damon to admittedly grow closer and care about each other. She'd hardly anticipated their friendship, but she didn't regret it. Without Damon's companionship in this gruesome place, she doubted that she'd have survived and maintained her sanity. She'd needed Damon, as much as it killed her to admit it, so his death in the duel would be unacceptable.

When she reached the arena, which shared an uncanny resemblance to the ancient Greek coliseum, she ventured off to the side gate, learning from Lutiyah that it was the entrance the opponents in the duel utilised.

When Bonnie had informed Lutiyah of the major hindrance in the plan, she had not been pleased, to say the least. She'd almost reneged on her word to include Damon in the plan, but Bonnie's constant reassurances that she and Damon would make it to Lutiyah in time stopped her from pulling the plug, but she'd warned Bonnie of the heightened risks now that Damon was subjected to the duel. Bonnie promised that they'd flee the arena as soon as Damon killed Rose, she just did not know how they'd do so without being noticed. Damon would be the centre of everyone's attention – getting him to leave immediately without anyone noticing would be almost impossible. But, they'd faced impossible before, it was almost normal for them now.

Bonnie leaned against the wall occupying the gate, waiting for Damon to arrive so that she could speak to him, desperately.

It was not long before she heard the shuffling of feet, and she looked up to see the Russian guard of the prison approaching, followed by Damon, Rose and four unknown men. As the prison party neared her, she noticed that Damon and Rose were both shackled – no doubt with the reinforcement of vervain – to prohibit them from attempting an escape.

When Damon saw her, his eyes widened in shock, for he most likely expected her to be at Lutiyah, ready to leave – with or without him. But she simply could not leave without him, and she hoped upon hope that it wouldn't come to that.

She walked towards them, but immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw Elias approaching from the entrance of the arena. Everyone else stopped, awaiting his arrival.

"It's about time, Guntar." He shot at the Russian, slightly annoyed. "Everyone is already waiting."

Guntar rolled his eyes. "You should know that chaining them up would not be easy. I had to take certain precautions." He gestured towards the four men standing behind Damon and Rose. "But they're here now."

Elias sighed exasperatedly and nodded, and subsequently looked at Bonnie. "And clearly so are you." He said, amused. "You seem to follow wherever these two idiots lead, even if it is to their deaths."

Bonnie shrugged, finding the courage to respond. "What can I say? I'm the loyal type."

Elias laughed. "Loyal to the wrong crew, undoubtedly." He moved closer towards her, and Bonnie willed herself to stay still and keep her expression passive. "You should choose more wisely who you follow, Bonnie Bennett. You could do so much better elsewhere."

Bonnie knew where he was going with this, but thought it best not to argue the point. She smiled. "I think I'll stick to what I know."

Elias shrugged. "Your loss. Which won't be the only one today." He turned towards Damon and Rose. "You two vampires ready?" He smirked, rubbing his hands together in excitement. "I'm eager to see which one of you will _kick the bucket_." His eyes fell on Damon, who glared at him in response. "Personally, I hope it's you, but I'll take what I can get." He clapped his hands together. "Please, make it fun." His teeth became exposed as his mouth stretched into a wide leer, while his eyes burned with excitement. He nodded to Guntar, and turned around, winking at Bonnie before heading back towards the arena.

Bonnie followed Damon and Rose without resistance from Guntar or the other guards, entering the arena through the side gate, and waiting while Damon and Rose were being released from their chains.

Guntar turned to look at her. "So which one do you hope wins?" he asked with a smirk. "Your boyfriend, or the British bitch?"

Bonnie winced at the expletive before casting him a sideways glance. "I don't think it really matters what I want." She responded bluntly, without looking at him. "Whoever wins, wins. It's as simple as that."

Guntar laughed. "You're pretty good at hiding your fear, but you don't fool me. It's the Salvatore you want to survive." He moved closer towards her, turning to face her and dropping his voice to a whisper. "But between you and me, the girl has a better chance of winning."

Bonnie met his eyes. "We'll see." She whispered back.

Guntar was right, but she refused to give him that satisfaction. Technically, Rose had the upper hand, because she was stronger and older than Damon, but she also cared for him, which could end up being her downfall. Although, Damon also cared for Rose, and Bonnie truly did not know if he'd be able to kill Rose when it came down to it. She only hoped he would.

As she heard Elias loudly greet the occupants of the arena and welcome them to the duel, Bonnie quickly moved towards Damon, realising how limited their time was now.

He was looking down at his hands with a passive expression, invaded by thoughts Bonnie was too apprehensive to know.

"If I don't make it." He uttered softly, his eyes glued to his hands. "Tell Elena that I love her. And that I'm sorry."

Bonnie shook her head slowly. "I'm not going to tell her that, Damon." He finally moved his eyes away from his hands and turned them up to meet hers. Bonnie could feel a lump in her throat forming at the utter desperation and torment emanating from Damon's eyes. She willed herself to continue speaking. "You are going to tell her that yourself, because you're going to make it through this." She placed a hand on his arm. "Just please make it through this, Damon." She pleaded, looking deeply into his eyes with desperation of her own.

She could feel Rose's eyes on them both, who was silently standing in the corner waiting for Elias to summon the opponents. It pained Bonnie that she was hoping for Rose's defeat, but she didn't have any other choice. They were in intractable circumstances where nothing could go the way anyone really wanted it to. So she had to take what she could get, and that happened to be Damon's survival.

"How do I kill her, Bonnie?" Damon asked pained. "How do I murder my only friend in this place? One of my only friends ever? How can I do that?"

Bonnie sighed sympathetically. "Sometimes, we have to do bad things for the people that we love. It's just the way that it is." It was morbid, but it was true.

Damon continued to stare at her with a strained expression, struggling to find the words to respond.

Bonnie could hear Elias's flamboyant speech to the arena's audience reaching its conclusion, knowing that he'd call for Damon and Rose in mere moments.

Bonnie moved into Damon, and hugged him tightly, clinging onto his back in desperation while his arms gently responded and landed on her upper back. "Remember, you're doing this for Elena, Damon." She whispered hurriedly into his ear. "She won't survive if I return without you. It will be like she's lost you all over again." She pulled away from him, moving her hands to grip his arms, and peering into his blue, tormented eyes. "She needs you, Damon." She stated despairingly. "So do this for her. Because you made her a promise, and now you need to fulfil it." She uttered the last words sternly, hoping that it would push him to do what she knew he did not want to do.

Damon looked at Bonnie curiously for a moment, and then nodded just before Elias's words rang through the arena, calling for the opponents of the duel.

Damon smiled weakly. "I guess this is it, then."

Bonnie did not know what to say, wondering if wishing him luck would be appropriate when it was one of his friends that he was about to fight. So she merely nodded, softly squeezing his arm supportively before dropping her hands from his body. Damon sighed and turned to leave for the grounds of the arena, before stopping abruptly.  
"Bonnie?" he said, almost shyly.

"Yeah?" she responded curiously.

He turned his neck to look at her. "I'm sorry."

She frowned. "About what, Damon?"

His eyes conveyed the most sincerity they'd ever possessed in all the years that she'd known him. "About everything." He replied plainly.

She smiled faintly, knowing that he was referring to all the challenging moments of their once tumultuous friendship. "Me too." She uttered sincerely.

He gave her a short but earnest smile before turning back and slowly walking towards the grounds, surrounded by plenty of guards to prevent an impulsive escape.

Rose began walking as well, stopping by Bonnie before following Damon out. Bonnie looked up at Rose, sympathy and pain lined on every part of her face.

Rose smiled weakly. "Don't worry, Bonnie. This will all be over soon." If only Bonnie knew what that meant exactly. "Whatever happens, make sure that you leave, that you get out of this horrid place."

Bonnie nodded. "I will." She hesitated before speaking again. "I'm sorry, Rose. I wish it did not have to come to this."

Rose's smile deepened and she shrugged. "It is what it is. This is the Dark Dimension. What happens in this duel happens. It's nobody's fault. So don't apologise."

Bonnie moved in to hug Rose, hating herself for wishing for her death in the imminent duel. She desperately hoped that her pain and remorse was conveyed through the hug.

Rose squeezed her tightly, before releasing her. "Goodbye, Bonnie." She said softly. "Maybe I'll see you again." She spoke the words earnestly, but Bonnie was uncertain of whether Rose had actually meant them.

"Goodbye, Rose." Bonnie replied, letting her arms fall from Rose as Rose turned to follow Damon to the grounds and the various spectators who were chanting for their arrival.

Bonnie watched Damon and Rose go, fear evidently emanating from them both as they walked towards the duel that would decide their fate. She was left wondering which one of them would still be breathing the next time she saw them.

**Damon**

_This is it_, Damon thought, _this could be the end_. Now was the moment when he would have to decide between dying and killing his friend. Between honour, and surviving to have the chance of reuniting with the love of his life. Between life and death.

He felt the pit in his stomach deepen as he realised what he was about to do, and hated himself for it. He wished he could be anywhere else but here right now, surrounded by a bloodthirsty audience awaiting the deaths of either him or Rose.

"Well, it was good knowing you, Damon." Rose said semi-cheerfully from beside him, attempting to put on a brave face for what they both were about to do.

Damon looked at her, the strain evident in her eyes. "It was good knowing you too, Rose."

She smiled and then gulped, clearly hesitant to utter her next words. "Elena needs you." She said softly, dropping her eyes from his. "Think about Elena."

"I'll think about her, you don't." he shot back. "Think about yourself, Rose. You fight, you don't hold back. _You don't hold back_." He had a feeling this duel was going to be a lot easier than it should be.

Rose grinned, meeting his eyes again. "Oh come now, Damon. You don't think I'm going to let you win that easily? I'll give you a good run for your money." She winked.

Damon shook his head. "Don't _let_ me win anything!" he protested. "Do you hear me, Rose?" He grabbed hold of her arms. "_You do not get to give up_."

Rose exhaled deeply, looking at him weakly. "Let's just get this over with, Damon. Whatever happens, happens."

Damon was about to protest the bullshit he knew Rose was going to pull in the duel, but was interrupted by Elias's arms roughly pushing them apart. "Chat time is over." He fired at Damon. "It's time for you to play the game." Damon and Rose looked nervously at each other, Rose's expression harbouring deep anxiety while Damon's oozed ambivalence.

"And now, the time has come!" Elias shouted upwards to the stadium of spectators, keeping either arm on Damon and Rose."May the best _villain_ win!" He sneered, looking at them both, and abruptly moved away from them towards the side of the arena. He subsequently clapped his hands once, and shouted, "Begin!" to indicate the start of the duel.

Damon opened his mouth to wish Rose a cynical good luck, when she suddenly rushed towards him, and Damon felt himself fly backwards by the force of her powerful punch into his chest. He felt searing pain spread throughout his body as he crashed into the arena's stone wall, falling onto his face due to the impact.

As he shook his head to regain his bearings, and felt blood drip down his forehead, he realised that he'd been mistaken in believing that Rose would throw the duel in his favour – she was determined to win this duel, and it was up to him to make sure that that did not happen. He was going to kill her; his determination to win, to see Elena again, was stronger. Rose wanted to play this game, and he'd play it right along with her, but she would be the loser, not him.

So he charged forward, teeth bared, ready to finish this duel as fast as possible.

**Bonnie**

With bated breath, Bonnie witnessed the events unravel before her. Perhaps she'd been naïve to assume that Rose would not optimise her combative advantage over Damon, that she'd give him the chance to defeat her and return to the living realm. But as she watched the duel, she realised that she'd been mistaken. Rose was in it to win it, and Damon could very well lose this battle and die. Bonnie desperately wished she could assist him somehow, help him in some way that would at least give him the upper hand and the opportunity to kill Rose. But she had no powers. All she could do was stand beside a sniggering Guntar, stare at the two opponents fighting before her eyes, and hope that Damon's skill could pull him through this macabre battle. She didn't want Rose to die, but her desire for Damon's survival outweighed her compassion for Rose. This dimension challenged one's humanity, and as she stood there in the arena, desperately hoping for Rose's death, she realised her humanity was failing. But she honestly did not care. Her priority was escaping this hell; if she had to compromise aspects of her morality for its sake then so be it. Ultimately, returning back to her loved ones mattered more to her than her diminishing humanity.

Bonnie was no longer sure of the duration of the duel – time just seemed to stand still as she witnessed Damon and Rose battle each other, using nothing but their own bodies to inflict pain in the hopes of weakening each other. That was the baleful characteristic of the duel – opponents had no weapons to assist them in combat, all they had to rely on were their own limbs to aid them in tearing their opponents apart to ensure the permanence of their deaths. And as she watched Damon and Rose, she knew they were attempting to do the same. At this point she could not tell who was winning, because both individuals were bloodied and beaten; their strength clearly waning. Who the victor of this battle would be, only time would tell, because Damon and Rose now seemed to be equally matched, and equally weakened.

Bonnie looked up towards the spectators in the stands, almost each one of them appearing disgustingly gleeful at the scene before them. They seemed to crave the blood spilled by both Damon and Rose, demanding a vicious attack from either of them that would surely kill the other. The Dark Dimension really did change people, for she doubted that each one of those individuals in the audience had been bloodthirsty from the moment they arrived here – the dimension had crafted them into the monsters they now were.

A passionate, angry outburst from Guntar forced Bonnie to turn her eyes back to Damon and Rose.

"You should have killed him when you had the chance!" shouted Guntar angrily. "And you had the chance!" He lifted his arms up in rage, breathing heavily in response to the scene before him.

Bonnie did not know how, but in the short moments that her eyes had strayed away from Damon and Rose, Damon had somehow managed to aggressively pin a bloody Rose down to the ground, his hand in her chest cavity, undoubtedly around her heart.

_This could be it_, Bonnie thought, _Damon could actually come out of this alive_. All he needed to do now was pull his arm out of her chest, with her heart tightly gripped in his hand.

**Damon**

He could feel it now. He could feel the victory pulsing in his veins as he felt Rose's heart beating in the palm of his right hand as he wrapped his hand around it tightly. All he had to do now was rip her heart from her chest and it would all be over. The bloody, brutal fight they had been forced to participate in would be over. Rose's life would be over.

"Just do it, Damon." Rose sputtered out heavily. "You know it's what you need to do." Her chest was heaving up and down heavily, struggling to maintain her breathing as Damon's hand tightened around her heart. A weak, sympathetic smile formed on her face as she looked at him with eyes conveying deep understanding for his current plight and mental torment. "We knew it was going to come to this." Had they known? It had all seemed a blur to Damon. He knew the steps he would take to reach this moment, but the final step, this moment, had always been vague. It had seemed evasive, refusing to reveal to him its reality. And now he was facing its reality.

Yet, he still hesitated, his hand refusing to do what his mind was demanding. All he could do was look at Rose, just as bloodied and beaten as him, and hope that time would make him do what he simply did not want to.

"I've found my peace, Damon." Rose uttered softly, as if she could read the thoughts responsible for his hesitation. "I need you to find yours. Find your way back." She gulped in an attempt to regain a breath she had just exhaled. She lifted her arms up, and grabbed Damon's shirt, pulling him closer to her so that her words would be heard clearly. Her expression became firm, her eyes conveying determination. "Get back to Elena. Don't let her go. Only she is your peace, nothing will ever change that."

Damon slowly shook his head, his hand remaining tight, but motionless around her heart. "I've found my peace, Rose." He told her softly.

Rose emitted a small, strenuous laugh. "If that was true, you wouldn't be so desperate to return to the living realm. To return to her. I know you better than you think, Damon Salvatore." Her grip on his shirt tightened. "Get back to Elena. Because regardless of what you think, you do not belong here. You belong by her side, forever."

Damon shook his head in protest, too distracted by Rose's words to react in time to her aggressive push against his chest. He fell through the air and landed with his stomach onto the hard ground of the arena, a considerable distance from where Rose lay, feeling a lifeless heart in his clenched right hand, and seeing a motionless Rose lying on the ground, dead.


End file.
